The Lantern Festival, or Yuan Hsiao Chieh, falls on the fifteenth day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar. It is also referred to as Shang Yuan and Hsiao Kuo Nien ("the Minor New Year") in Chinese.

The Chinese have celebrated the Lantern Festival since the Han Dynasty (206 B.C.-221 A.D.). On this day, just about everybody would carry colorful lanterns and then gather in a public place for a big "lantern fair". ... (more)