The Lantern Festival is a Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar year in the lunar calendar marking the last day of the lunar New Year celebration. It is usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. As early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 25), it had become a festival with great significance. During the Lantern Festival, children go out at night to temples carrying paper lanterns andsolve riddles on the lanterns.
元宵節是中國的傳統節日。每年的陰歷一月十五日是元宵節，陽歷則在二月或三月，它也是陰歷新年慶祝活動的最后一天。早在西漢年間(公元前206年——公元25年)，元宵節就已經是非常重要的節日。在元宵節這一天，孩子們晚上打著紙做的燈籠到寺廟中猜燈謎。
In ancient times, the lanterns were fairly simple, and only the emperor and noblemen had large ornate ones. In modern times, lanterns have been embellished with many complex designs. For example, lanterns are now often made in the shape of animals. The lanterns cansymbolize the people letting go of their past selves and getting new ones, which they will let go of the next year. The lanterns are almost always red to symbolize good fortune.
在古時候，燈籠的制作非常簡單，只有皇帝和貴族們擁有大型而華麗的燈籠。在現代社會，人們用很多復雜的設計來裝飾燈籠。例如，現在人們把燈籠做成動物的形狀。燈籠象征著人們送別過去的自己并迎接嶄新的自己，年復一年，周而復始。燈籠基本上是紅色的，用以象征好運。
In Hong Kong, it is commercialized as the Chinese equivalent of Valentine's Day. It is not to be confused with the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is sometimes also known as the "Lantern Festival" in locations such as Singapore and Malaysia.
在香港，元宵節已經被商業化，被人們當作中國的情人節。元宵節不應該和中秋節混為一談，盡管在新加坡和馬來西亞等地區，中秋節有時候被叫做"燈籠節"。