The Lantern Festival or Shangyuan Festival Monday marked the end of the 15-day-long Chinese New Year celebrations which started Jan. 23.
The Lantern Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year. During this festival, family gathers and light lamps and candles outside their houses to send the evil spirits back to their home.
During the celebrations the lanterns are made to reflect Chinese historical themes and depict scenes from stories and legends that express traditional values.
The 14th day of the Chinese New Year celebration is kept reserved to prepare for the Lantern Festival the next day.
According to Chinese tradition, when there is full moon day at the beginning of the New Year, people lights thousands of colorful lanterns. Lanterns with different themes were hung up through cities from Taipei to Shanghai.
Families walked on streets carrying lanterns and lighted candles. Even fire crackers and traditional rituals were part of this Lantern Festival this Dragon Year.
The Lantern Festival is also seen as a Chinese version of St. Valentine's Day.
Check out the pictures of Lantern Festival here.
People walk under red lanterns on display during Lantern Festival celebrations in Taipei February 5, 2012. The Lantern Festival or Yuan Xiao Jie is a Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar year in the Chinese calendar. The Lantern Festival is also known as the Little New Year since it marks the end of the series of celebrations starting from the Chinese New Year.REUTERSPeople walk in an area decorated with lanterns during the Lantern Festival at Yu Yuan Garden in downtown Shanghai February 6, 2012. The Lantern Festival occurs on the 15th day of the Chinese Lunar New Year and marks the end of the Spring Festival.ReutersA couple looks at lanterns ahead of the Lantern Festival at Yu Yuan Garden in downtown Shanghai February 6, 2012. The Lantern Festival occurs on the 15th day of the Chinese Lunar New Year and marks the end of the Spring Festival.ReutersLocal residents wait to perform a dragon dance during a folk art performance celebrating the Lantern Festival on the last day of Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations in Zhengding County, Hebei province, February 6, 2012.ReutersMaster Handan ritual during the Lantern Festival in China.ReutersVillagers perform the annual "dragon march" to celebrate the Lantern Festival in Gutian township, Fujian province February 6, 2012.ReutersA worker paints the head of a lantern made in the image of a terracotta warrior, which is being decorated for the Lantern Festival, at a residential and commercial complex in Beijing February 5, 2012.Reuters
