Week 5 Foreign Language Paper-(using the word 'Osmosis") Chinese Culture by Osmosis

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2006-02/11/content_4164940.htm
Taken from the Chinese paper, Xinhua.
(I am gaining some knowledge of Chinese holiday customs by osmosis, just reading this article made me feel as if I was watching the celebrations. )

This Sunday, February 12 is the day of the traditional celebration of "Lantern Day" this year in China.

Lantern Day is the last day of the 15 day celebration of Chinese New Year. The two weeks have been marked by parties, feasting, gatherings with family, and dragon parades. Lantern Day is a time for being with one's family, and the traditional food consumed for the day is "tangyuan dumplings". People stock up on these as we might stock up on snack foods before the Superbowl. Lantern Day is big business in China. Tangyuan dumplings are small, half moon shaped sticky rice flour pastries. They can be sweet or savory, and can be filled with walnuts, minced meats, vegetables, dried tangerine peel, sesame, edible flowers, or jujube paste, among many other fillings. One market said they carry over 80 kinds of tangyuan, and a shopkeeper assistant said they will sell over 200 bags of them a day.

In addition to the tangyuan dumplings, the day is marked by using colored lanterns. These lanterns are lit after dark, providing a brilliantly colored fairy tale atmosphere to be out and about in Chinese cities. Some people make their own lanterns, but others prefer to purchase them from vendors. Many lanterns carry slips of paper with riddles on them, which the people have fun trying to decipher. The small town of Lingbao, in Henan province, has been making lanterns for 70 years and has a good reputation for making a style called the "Gandian Flower Lantern", which is sold throughout the country ( see photo).

Lantern Day also has a wisp of the "Sadie Hawkins Day"idea in that in the old days it was a time when a chaperoned woman could be out alone so as to be seen by eligible bachelors. Additionally, Lantern Day is something of a Chinese Valentine's Day, a day for lovers to enjoy too.

I am sure it is a lovely, colorful way to end the New Year season.