China ready for Lantern Festival

The Lantern Festival is coming up on Sunday, the 15th day of the first lunar month, and the whole country is decked out for the celebration.

In Shanghai, the annual lantern show is ready to go on Yunan Street which is famous for its old buildings and time-honored restaurants. Thousands of lanterns in various shapes are hung there.

The Lantern Festival marks the grand finale of the 15-day celebration of the Spring Festival.

In the 400-year-old Yuyuan Garden, the Spring Festival temple fair has been transformed into a lantern display. On the night of the first full moon of the lunar new year, it's a tradition for people to walk while carrying lanterns, often shaped like the zodiac animal of that lunar year.

In Quanzhou City in Fujian Province, requests for lanterns have poured in from around the country. The lanterns are custom-made for businesses. As the year of the Tiger has come in China, lanterns with an tiger theme are the most sought-after.

Other popular designs are the traditional symbols for prosperity and luck.

Quanzhou is a famous for lantern production in east China. Every year forty million lanterns are sold. The large demand for this year's festival kept most factories very busy all through the Spring Festival.

Decorative lanterns representing diverse themes adorn Nanjing, the capital of Jiangsu Province.

These works of art embrace folklore and history. They also give expression to ancient wisdom. The Tiger is featured in many lanterns.

And in Hangzhou, capital of Zhejiang Province, the supermarkets are ready to impress visitors with Tang Yuan, the glutinous rice dumplings served in soup. They are the staple snack for the festival. Their round shape is considered a symbol of family reunion and fulfillment.

The Lantern Festival marks the grand finale of the 15-day celebration of the Spring Festival. After the break, it's time to make a fresh start in a new year.