Lit Up by Lanterns

Golden, orange, and red lanterns hang from above. Lights sparkle overhead. It is Chinese New Year, and the Lantern Festival has begun!

The Journey of a Lantern

This year, Chinese New Year starts on February 8. It lasts for 15 days. There is a Lantern Festival on the last day and night. Let’s follow a lantern from the time it’s made to when it lights up the festival!

All across China and in places where Chinese people live around the world, people will celebrate the Lantern Festival. They will hang thousands of lanterns above streets, parks, and homes. People will walk under the lanterns and look up at the beautiful lights. First, they must make their lanterns!

Making a Lantern

You can buy lanterns in a store, but many people make their own. They use wood or metal to make the lanterns’ frames. Lantern makers shape their lanterns into globes, cubes, animals, or creatures like dragons.

Then they cover the frame in paper, silk, or glass. People often put lights inside the frame. When the lantern is lit up, it will be luminous. That means the lantern will give off bright light.

Decorating a Lantern

After the lantern is made, it is time to decorate it. Some people draw flowers or designs on their lantern. Others write their wishes and hopes for the new year.

One popular tradition is to decorate a lantern with a riddle. A riddle is a puzzling question that is hard to answer.

People think of a riddle. Then they write it down and hang it on a piece of paper from their lantern. On the night of the festival, others try to solve the riddle. If you get the right answer, the lanterns owner might give you a prize!

Here is a riddle that might be on a lantern. “Which building has the most stories?” Can you guess the answer? It’s “a library”!

Enjoying the Lanterns

People hang up their lanterns in the days before the festival. Workers on tall ladders string lanterns over the streets. Soon, the last day of Chinese New Year arrives. The Lantern Festival begins!

Families and friends stroll through neighborhoods and gaze at the colorful, luminous lanterns. They read the wishes for the new year and try to solve the riddles. Performers dance and sing in the streets as the lanterns glow high above them.

When the next morning comes, the festival is over. Workers take the lanterns down. But some people are already planning what kind of lanterns they will make next year!