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今日元宵节，又称灯节。古人称新年的第一个月为“元月”，“夜”亦称“宵”，所以“元宵”就是指新的一年中第一个见到满月的晚上。

元宵节的节俗活动，是随历史的发展而变化的，在全国各地也不尽相同，但赏花灯、猜灯谜、吃元宵、舞龙舞狮等是全国普遍并流传至今的主要民俗活动。

赏花灯

Watching lanterns

One of the most important activities in this festival is watching lanterns. On the Lantern Festival, houses and streets are decorated with lanterns and colored hangings to promise a prosperous and happy new year. The colorful lanterns are usually made of paper or silk, painted with landscapes, flowers and birds, figures and auspicious patterns or words.

元宵节的燃灯之俗始于汉代，发展至唐朝时，元宵节被称为“灯节”已成为定俗。古时上元节，不仅家家户户会挂花灯、放烟花，街道上还要建起高大的灯楼、灯轮和灯树，火树银花，美不胜收，叫人流连忘返。

知识锦囊：

古时花灯种类：宫灯（palace lantern），红纱灯笼（red gauze lantern），河灯（river lantern）等。

猜灯谜

Guessing lantern riddles

When it comes to the Lantern Festival, "guessing lantern riddles" is an essential component. Lantern owners will write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns in advance. If visitors can answer the riddles, they can just pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answers. If they are right, they will get a small gift. The activity emerged during the Song Dynasty (960-1279 A.D.). As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular among all social strata.

“猜灯谜”又叫“打灯谜”，是宋朝时出现的元宵节趣味活动。每逢元宵节，灯笼制作者会把谜面贴在五光十色的彩灯上。因为谜语能启迪智慧又饶有趣味，所以深受百姓喜爱，流传至今。

知识锦囊：

all social strata：社会各阶层

吃元宵

Eating rice dumplings

Another important part of the Lantern Festival is eating rice dumplings. They are made of glutinous rice flour and filled with sweet stuffing and are round in shape.

The fillings are either sweet or salty. Sweet fillings are made of sugar, walnuts, sesame, osmanthus flowers, rose petals, bean paste, or jujube paste. A single ingredient or any combination can be used as the fillings. The salty variety is filled with minced meat, vegetables or a mixture.

元宵又叫汤圆，分有馅和无馅两种。无馅的个小，味甜，以白糖、桂圆、桂花、藕丁、蜜饯为佐料，又称“珍珠汤圆”，有馅的个大，状如核桃。北方元宵多为甜馅，有白糖、豆沙、芝麻、山楂等类，南方的则甜、咸、荤、素皆有，尤以宁波汤圆，贵阳吴家汤圆著称。

知识锦囊：

glutinous rice flour ：糯米粉

sweet stuffing：甜甜的馅儿

甜元宵常用馅：walnut（核桃），sesame（芝麻），osmanthus flowers（桂花）， rose petals（玫瑰花瓣），bean past（豆沙），jujube paste（红枣酱）等。

咸元宵常用馅：minced meat（肉末），蔬菜等。

舞龙舞狮

Dragon dance and

lion dance

Besides watching lanterns and eating rice dumplings, people also celebrate the Lantern Festival with dragon dance and lion dance.

The dragon dance, a form of traditional dance and performance in Chinese culture, is often seen in some festival celebrations. The dance is performed by a team of dancers who manipulate a long flexible figure of a dragon using poles positioned at regular intervals along the length of the dragon. The dance team mimics the supposed movements of this river spirit in a sinuous, undulating manner.

Lion dance is also a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture, in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume.