I know this post comes well late but I thought I would publish it anyway as Lantern Festival is one of the most well known Chinese festivals and it would be a shame not to share my experience of it with you.
When we think of Chinese lanterns, we immediately visualize the deep red square-ish lanterns hanging around our local Chinatown or Chinese restaurants. The lanterns used during the festival are a bit different though in that they are not red but light beige and have elongated shape( at least the ones I've seen). The lantern festival is a true spectacle, reported every year by television channels all over the world. Not anymore..
When we think of Chinese lanterns, we immediately visualize the deep red square-ish lanterns hanging around our local Chinatown or Chinese restaurants. The lanterns used during the festival are a bit different though in that they are not red but light beige and have elongated shape( at least the ones I've seen). The lantern festival is a true spectacle, reported every year by television channels all over the world. Not anymore..
..Due to the increasing air pollution, the authorities banned the use of traditional lanterns (one may wonder if a bit of candle smoke in one night makes much difference but hey..). So instead of experiencing a wonderful floating light show for the first time in my life, I was very close to not experiencing any kind of festival at all. Luckily, while on the way back home, I noticed that some people were still lighting lanterns, despite the ban and decided there must be a way of celebrating this holiday.
Of course I didn't want to get into any kind of trouble so it must have been a legal way. My OH and I walked over to the river bank and to my delight, his dismay, someone was selling these small, flower-shaped, paper lanterns, which you could write your wishes on and float on the water. Not the same as the spectacular show I was looking forward to but definitely better than nothing and actually quite romantic.
So, without further ado, we purchased one of those paper lanterns, wrote our wishes on it, carefully put it on the water and watched it gently drift away. It was a quiet and happy moment:) Well, perhaps not so quiet as tens of other couples queued to do the same but still- I will remember it fondly:) Who would have thought that air pollution would have such a huge impact on Chinese life, culture-wise? So if you are thinking of visiting China around the Lantern Festival time, please bear in mind, you may not be able to celebrate the way you imagined..
Of course I didn't want to get into any kind of trouble so it must have been a legal way. My OH and I walked over to the river bank and to my delight, his dismay, someone was selling these small, flower-shaped, paper lanterns, which you could write your wishes on and float on the water. Not the same as the spectacular show I was looking forward to but definitely better than nothing and actually quite romantic.
So, without further ado, we purchased one of those paper lanterns, wrote our wishes on it, carefully put it on the water and watched it gently drift away. It was a quiet and happy moment:) Well, perhaps not so quiet as tens of other couples queued to do the same but still- I will remember it fondly:) Who would have thought that air pollution would have such a huge impact on Chinese life, culture-wise? So if you are thinking of visiting China around the Lantern Festival time, please bear in mind, you may not be able to celebrate the way you imagined..