2014年2月14日是個很特別的日子, 這天「西方情人節」巧遇「中國情人節」於同一日。 情人節 元宵節雙節同日慶祝。
Yuanxiao Festival (also known as Lantern Festival, Chinese Valentine's Day)
The Yuanxiao Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, 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. This day's important activity is watching lanterns. Also this day is celebrated by individuals seeking for a romantic partner, akin to Valentine's Day.
Till today, the Yuanxiao Festival is still held each year around the country. Lanterns of various shapes and sizes are hung in the streets, attracting countless visitors. Children will hold self-made or bought lanterns to stroll with on the streets, extremely excited. "Guessing lantern riddles"is an essential part of the Festival. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answer. If they are right, they will get a little gift. The activity emerged during people's enjoyment of lanterns in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular among all social strata.
People will eat yuanxiao, or rice dumplings, on this day, so it is also called the "Yuanxiao Festival."Yuanxiao also has another name, tangyuan. It is small dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour with rose petals, sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit, sugar and edible oil as filling. Tangyuan can be boiled, fried or steamed. It tastes sweet and delicious. What's more, tangyuan in Chinese has a similar pronunciation with "tuanyuan”, meaning reunion. So people eat them to denote union, harmony and happiness for the family.
Nowadays some local governments will even organize a fireworks party. On the night when the first full moon enters the New Year, people become really intoxicated by the imposing fireworks and bright moon in the sky.
元宵節 (中國情人節)
每年農曆的正月十五日，春節剛過，迎來的就是中國的傳統節日--元宵節。元宵節主要的活動就是看燈。青年男女會出外賞燈，也是結識的機會，因此有「中國情人節」之稱。
直到今天，元宵節點燈的習俗仍然在中國的各地流傳的，各式各樣美麗的花燈在這一天都會點亮，孩子們提著自製的燈籠走街串巷，非常高興。猜燈謎也是元宵節的一項重要活動，花燈的主人會將謎面寫在燈籠上，掛在門口，如果有人可以猜中，就能得到小小的禮物。這項活動最早起源於宋朝，因為謎語能啟迪智慧又饒有興趣，所以流傳過程中深受社會各階層的歡迎。
民間過元宵節吃元宵的習俗。元宵由糯米製成，或實心，或帶餡。餡有豆沙、白糖、山楂、各類果料等，食用時煮、煎、蒸、炸皆可。起初，人們把這種食物叫“浮圓子”，後來又叫“湯糰”或“湯圓”，這些名稱“團圓”字音相近，取團圓之意，象徵全家人團團圓圓，和睦幸福，人們也以此懷念離別的親人，寄託了對未來生活的美好願望。
現在一些地方政府也會舉辦煙花大會，當新年的第一個月圓之夜在盛大的煙火表演中來臨時，人們都陶醉在這令人難忘了煙花與皎潔的明月中。
Related Mixes :
February Mood Mix (Sonia's Love Edit)
February Mood Mix (The Original Flow)
Related Links :
元宵節的由來英文介紹
元宵節
情人節
Valentine's Day
Chinese New Year
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