Latest News:  

English>>China Society

Lantern Festival in eyes of foreigners

(People's Daily Online)

11:21, February 25, 2013

A foreign visitor makes rice balls in a park of Kunming, Yunnan.(People's Daily Overseas Edition/Qu Yunfei)

Please read: Foreigners in capital get a taste of Lantern Festival

Orly Sass (pseudonym) from Germany has visited China three times, and spent the Lantern Festival in Yangshuo county, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region for the first time in 2012. "I was deeply impressed by the folk performances in Yangshuo. The unique dragon dance can only be seen in China. Their costumes and music are interesting and impressive," he said.

Michael Axel (pseudonym) from Israel has lived in Guangxi for seven years, and is an expert on China. He is familiar with the Lantern Festival. "I will have dinner with my family, watch television, and enjoy the fireworks display over the Lijiang River. I think this is how most Chinese spend the Lantern Festival," he said.

Mike (pseudonym) from the United Kingdom speaks fluent Chinese; he spent the Lantern Festival in Sichuan province for the first time in 2012. "I ate dumplings and set off fireworks with the family of my friend during the Spring Festival. They were all very nice. The lively atmosphere during the Lantern Festival reminded me of Christmas celebrations in my country," he said.

The German consul general in Chengdu, whose Chinese name is Meng Duofu, likes the tradition of launching sky lanterns at the Lantern Festival. "When fireworks are set off, when red and pink sky lanterns fly to the sky slowly, when they flicker and become smaller and smaller, our wishes also fly to the sky," he said.

"I will read and memorize more riddles on lanterns during the Lantern Festival. Traditional Chinese culture is very appealing and interesting," said an Indian student who is learning Chinese in Beijing and looking forward to solving riddles on lanterns at the festival.

Babloo (pseudonym) from Africa spent the Lantern Festival at the Xixi National Wetland Park in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province for the first time in 2012. "China's Lantern Festival is livelier and more interesting than I thought. The dragon dance was my most exciting experience," he said.

Read the Chinese version:老外眼中的元宵节; People's Daily Overseas Edition.

We Recommend:

Our generation: Chinese elites through lens

Chinese rich women learning etiquette

Beauties at Beijing Film Academy enrollment site

Slacklife, China’s No.1 slackliner

Wedding of Lisu people in Sichuan, China

China's weekly story (2013.2.8-2.15)

Impressive moments of Beijing since 1950s

Unforgettable moments during Spring Festival

Exploring top private clubs in China

Email|Print|Comments(Editor:HuangJin、Yao Chun)

Leave your comment0 comments

  1. Name

  

Selections for you


  1. Carrier-based aircraft regiment in training

  2. Skill competition of core scouts

  3. Heavy snowfall shrouds beautiful Lake Bled

  4. Lantern Festival celebration

  5. Attractive girls at an art college's enrollment site

  6. Chinese receive Lantern Festival

  7. Wedding dress show in Shanghai

  8. Yao ethnic villagers sacrifice bull to ancestor

  9. Dollar dilemma as greenback value falls

  10. Taking a bite out of the market for snakes

Most Popular

Opinions

  1. Kerry aims high in maiden foreign trip
  2. Open communication for Peninsula peace
  3. Spring Festival offers window into China
  4. Fatter red envelopes miss point of tradition
  5. Opportunities amid challenges
  6. Children deaths lead to calls for better guardianship
  7. New CPC leadership's first 100 ruling days inspiring
  8. Keeping the brand full of beans
  9. Brighter outlook for property companies
  10. Lantern Festival losing its luster

What’s happening in China

Chilly run gets blood pumping

  1. Charitable school to make way for highway
  2. 4 dead, 5 injured in NW China road crash
  3. Beijing orders removal of garbage near reservoir
  4. Ministry clarifies rate of subsistence allowances
  5. China's mainland home to 247 'cancer villages'