Light fora new year

Customers from near and far come to Zhuanghe to buy animal lanterns for the upcoming Lantern Festival. Photos by Zhu Chengpei / China Daily

Spring Festival revelers in Zhuanghe are snapping up animal lanterns representing the Chinese zodiac sign for the lunar year in which they were born. Zhu Chengpei and Zhang Xiaomin report on the fun and the tradition in Dalian.

Several days after the Lunar New Year, booths selling "animal lanterns" pop up on the streets of Zhuanghe of Dalian in Northeast China's Liaoning province. The lanterns are made of bean flour in the shapes of the animal signs of the Chinese zodiac, or shengxiao, which is composed of 12 animals (rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig), each symbolizing a lunar year. The flames burn in external holders.

"It is a tradition in Zhuanghe that on the night of the Lantern Festival, which falls on Feb 14 this year, people ignite lanterns for each family member, wishing for good fortune," says Zhao Mou, who was buying a rat for her 5-year-old daughter, a rabbit for her husband and a monkey for herself on Tuesday at a booth in downtown Zhuanghe.

According to historical documents, migrating peasants from Shandong province brought the tradition of making animal lanterns to Liaoning during the first half of the 17th century. Nowadays, it only remains in Zhuanghe.

"When I was a little girl, my mother made animal lanterns by herself. But now most of the residents choose to buy them in the market instead. They are more beautiful and not expensive," Zhao says.

Dozens of booths are offering animal lanterns at the roadside market. Usually, a small lantern costs 5 yuan ($0.83). Bigger ones may cost a few dozen yuan or even more, according to their size and quality.