Happy Lantern Festival 2009! It is the last day of the Chinese New Year celebration, the 15th day of the first Month in the Chinese Luna calendar. Click here to find out more information on Lantern Festival.
In Tianjin, a three day competition of “lantern making contest” is taking place. The lanterns made by citizens are hung on the ancient apple trees in the Old City Museum. Some folk artists are invited to make performances of calligraphy, painting, paper cutting, embroidery, flour sculpture, etc.
In Inner Mongolia, the tradition of spinning lights was carried out. Spinning lights literally means walking around the lanterns, which has a history of more than 3,000 years. A shelf made by more than 300 poles was made to hold 365 lanterns, each representing a day in one year. People believe that walking around the shelf symbolizes walking around hardship in the year.
In the Taer Monastery in Qinghai, more than 40 monks made Ghee flowers to celebrate the festival. Exhibition of ghee flowers, which the monastery was famous for, was held every year for the Lantern Festival. The theme this year was the life story of Tsongkhapa, founder of the Geluk school, or the largest one of Tibetan Buddhism.
