Like most Chinese festivals, the Lantern Festival has its own special food,
called “tang yuan”. These are round, glutinous rice dumplings with sweet or spicy fillings.
The dumplings are said to symbolize both the first full moon and family utility and completeness.
Part of the lantern festival tradition involves a game to guess riddles attached to the lanterns.
In the old days the riddles were obscure literary allusions to the Chinese classics
and so were mainly the preserve of the educated classes. Stilt-walking, drumming
and dragon and lion dancing are the main entertainment forms of the Lantern Festival.