Chinese Lantern Festival

Chinese Lantern Festival, closely following the Spring Festival, falls on the 15th day of Chinese lunar new year, namely, Feb. 6 in 2012. It is a time reminding people of the end of celebration of the coming year, which means, after this day, all shops, factories, schools, etc should be opened.

About this festival, there are various ways of celebration, the top two and also the most well-known ways are taking rice dumplings (tangyuan) and "Guessing lantern riddles", esp. "Guessing lantern riddles", which can attract crowds of people pondering for minutes, interesting. Which as it is majorly a game concerning with Chinese characters, maybe a little puzzled for you, while I will give you an example all the same: 武 （猜一字），you guessed it? The answer is 斐，like it?

Rice dumplings with sesame

flower market 

dragon lantern

rice dumplings with vegetable sauce

kids on a queue waiting for guessing riddles

Where to Go During Spring Festival

Owing to its particular location, Hong Kong enjoys warmer climate during the Spring Festival, making it an ideal choice for those favor both impressive traditional Chinese New Year atmosphere and delicious Chinese delicacies. Moreover, there will be great discounts in shopping malls.

As for customs in Hong Kong concerning Spring Festival, there are quite a lot distinctiveness from mainland style, for instance, they paste 'Huichun' instead of New Year scrolls or New Year pictures at home, though they maintain the same meaning. Lion playing and Dragon Lantern Dance are usually on show in the countryside of the New Territories and fireworks in Victoria Harbor on the second night of the new year. The third one is 'Lishi', bearing the connotation of 'lucky' 'auspicious'.

From Jan.17 to Feb.6, various kinds of parties will be started, like Spring Festival flower market opens on Jan.17-22, firework show on Jan.24, fancy car parade on Jan.23, traditional prayer day on Jan. 23-Feb.6, racing on Jan.25,etc.

Besides various activities, Hong Kong is also noted for kinds of delicacies, reputed as 'Paradise for Gastronome', as one saying goes like that, all delicacies gather in Hong Kong.

It is already 3 days to Chinese lunar New Year, Happy New Year!

Where to Go During Spring Festival

Kunming, a noted Chinese tourist destination, is an ideal place to enjoy natural scenes and cultural views. Due to its advantaged location, there is no severe coldness or hotness, but warm and pleasant all the year round, reputed as 'Spring City'.

The profound history, distinctive ethnic minority group culture and peculiar natural conditions have helped Kunming preserve numerous historical remains and scenic spots. Among all the scenes lying in green hills and blue waters, Stone Forests and Dian Lake are the most favored.

Every year during the Spring Festival, all the parks, small or large, are carefully decorated, in which, various kinds of activities are held, making it possible to fully understand local culture and custom. In the 2nd and 3rd days of the new year, there will be particular shows for foreign friends, like Square Dance, Hawaiian dance, etc.

Local operas show

The highlights of all the activities and is colored lanterns from Zigong, about 80,000 tulips, and bustling& hustling temple fair, which will not let you down definitely.

Where To Go During the Spring Festival

As a saying goes in China that "if you want to have a look at how China is like in the modern times, then you should go to Shanghai, while for the views of the past 500 years, Beijing should be taken into consideration, and for the situation thousands of years ago, Xian is the best choice".

The Tang Paradise

Xian, a city of profound history and culture remains, has long been a capital city of China. Nowadays, you can find obvious historical influence in not only historical interest, but also in the folks' daily life, even if you are just a passer-by. Restaurants, taverns, small or large, can all provide an image of past glories.

If you want to have a deep understanding of traditional Xian culture, then Qinqiang (Shaanxi Opera) is a must. The Yisu Club under the Bell Tower has enjoyed a history of 100 years, there will be shows at every Friday and Saturday night. Lucky if you were, you would have the opportunity to listen to the citizens practicing on Qinqiang.

Xian is ranked among Chinese cities bearing the best disposition, Tang Paradise, taking an area of 100,000 sq.m, should be a place you cannot miss if you arrange your China visit during Chinese Spring Festival. It was constructed on the ancient site of lotus garden which was established in 483 A.D..Except for large scale of exquisite architectures modeled those of the Tang Dynasty, there will be wonderful traditional dance and sing show, which can definitely be called an ideal textbook of the Tang Dynasty.

the Muslim Street

Besides some other world-famous tour sites, like Terra Cotta Warriors, the Bell Tower, the Drum Tower, the Ancient City Wall, Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Small Wild Goose Pagoda, etc, you can also enjoy authentic Xian cuisine, Jiasan steamed stuffed bun, Pingwa Roast Meat, Hulu Tou, Yangrou Paomo are strongly recommended.

By the way, if you are too full, you can go to experience the rock music in Xian, there has emerged several rock music stars, like Zheng Jun, Xu Wei, you've heard about them, quite popular in China mainland? They usually make performances in Libo Piano Company, Lvzhou Piano Company, Nanmen Bar, 1+1 Bar, etc.

one of Xian bars

So, in the end, enjoy your China Spring Festival tour！

Where to Go During the Spring Festival

It is already December 30, the last day but one of 2011, which means the beginning of the doom 2012, meanwhile, it also symbolizing the approaching of 2012 Chinese Spring Festival, falling on Jan.22, 2012.

The Spring Festival, regarded as the biggest day all the year round, is usually celebrated in a big way. Arrange your China visit during this time will definitely leave you a deep impression. I will give you several recommended sites for your China tour in my blog. And Sanya is the first one being chosen to introduce.

Even in cold winter, sunshine in Xian is warm and pleasant, and so is the beach, which means that you have to bring sunglasses, topee, sunscreen cream, etc. to protect you from being tan. In spite of traditional hotels, in Sanya, there emerged new-concept hotels, which concentrated in providing particular and impressive experience of staying.

The Nanshan Mountain, Yalong Bay, Wuzhizhou Island are among the widest favored tourist attractions in Sanya. It is generally acknowledged that live on the island, lying on the beach, relaxing one's mind, swimming, reading, wandering, enjoying sunshine, without busying oneself with running from one site to another, is quite enjoyable.

One has to bear in mind that one cannot get on the Wuzhizhou Island if there are strong storm, thus, one should consult the weather before setting out. The sea water is pretty clean and the beach white, with the most beautiful view in the Lovers' Bridge, from which you can enjoy the coral reef. It is strongly recommended to take an elfdriving travel on the island, spending some time listening to the wave patting on the rocks, taking a deep breath of the fresh sea breeze, and feasting your stomach with the authentic seafood.

China Spring Festival

The Spring Festival falls on the 1st day of the 1st month in Chinese lunar calendar, originated in the Shang Dynasty (1600 B.C.-1100 B.C.) from the people's sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one. As the most important festival for the Chinese, it is the time when all family members get reunion.

On December 8th in the lunar calendar, laba porridge is made in many households. It is a kind of delicious porridge with glutinous rice, millet, seeds of Job's tears, jujube berries, lotus seeds, beans, longan and gingko, according to different taste of different people and regions, there are also some other ingredients used in laba porridge.

December 23 in the lunar calendar is called Preliminary Eve when people offer sacrifice to the kitchen god and prepare bumper food to enjoy themselves.

On the New Year's Eve, all family members get together to enjoy a more luxurious meal and before the meal, people serve all the dishes on the table and burning fireworks to call on the spirits of passing away ancetors to come back to enjoy the festival together with the whole family. After the dinner, the whole family will sit together, chatting and watching Spring Festival Gala Evening. Right on 12:00 this night, every household would again burn fireworks, symbolizing the welcome of the coming of new year.

Waking up on New Year, everybody dresses up, they extend greetings to their parents and seniority. Then red envelopes are sent to little kids. For the first meal in the new year, in northern China, dumplings (jiaozi) are taken for Jiaozi embodies "bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new". While in South China, Niangao is taken, symbolizes "higher and higher, better and better."

The first five days after the Spring Festival are always regarded as good chance for visiting relatives, friends, classmates and colleagues to exchange greetings, gifts and chat leisurely.

Since there are 56 ethnic groups in China. Different customs for celebrating Spring Festival are to some degree maintain their own features, while generally speaking, they bear the same philosophy that it is a time for family reunion and relaxing after a busy year's hard work.

Family reunion to make and eat dumplings

gifts and red envelop

Perfermance in Spring Festival temple fair

Paper-cut of "fu"

paste paper-cut with mom

fireworks on Spring Festival

So happy, get a big red envelop?