There are several traditional Chinese holidays that are celebrated throughout the year, but expectedly, only of a few of them are carried out and celebrated here in the United States. Perhaps the most well-known holiday, the Lunar New Year is observed by millions of Americans every year (although why students get no days off for the holiday is beyond me). You hear people on the radio saying “Happy Chinese New Year” in unintelligible Chinese all day long. But there are other, less observed holidays such as the Dragonboat and the Lantern Festival that definitely deserve mention, and for my project, I will be covering the Lantern Festival. Taking place on the fifteenth day of the first Lunar Month, the Lantern Festival is a traditional holiday geared towards young adults. In China, paper lanterns would be carried all along the streets, with riddles written onto the lanterns for other people to solve. This holiday is seen as the last event of the Lunar New Year festivities, but here in New York, I don’t recall ever seeing any Lantern Festivals. I want to find out more about this holiday, and see how it’s changed in translation from China to America.
