The Lantern Festival is a Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar year in the lunar calendar marking the last day of the lunar New Year celebration. It is usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. As early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC - AD 25), it had become a festival with great significance. During the Lantern Festival, children go out at night to temples carrying paper lanterns andsolve riddles on the lanterns.

　　元宵節(jié)是中國(guó)的傳統(tǒng)節(jié)日。每年的陰歷一月十五日是元宵節(jié)，陽(yáng)歷則在二月或三月，它也是陰歷新年慶�；顒�(dòng)的最后一天。早在西漢年間(公元前206年——公元25年)，元宵節(jié)就已經(jīng)是非常重要的節(jié)日。在元宵節(jié)這一天，孩子們晚上打著紙做的燈籠到寺廟中猜燈謎。

　　In ancient times, the lanterns were fairly simple, and only the emperor and noblemen had large ornate ones. In modern times, lanterns have been embellished with many complex designs. For example, lanterns are now often made in the shape of animals. The lanterns cansymbolize the people letting go of their past selves and getting new ones, which they will let go of the next year. The lanterns are almost always red to symbolize good fortune.

　　在古時(shí)候，燈籠的制作非常簡(jiǎn)單，只有皇帝和貴族們擁有大型而華麗的燈籠。在現(xiàn)代社會(huì)，人們用很多復(fù)雜的設(shè)計(jì)來(lái)裝飾燈籠。例如，現(xiàn)在人們把燈籠做成動(dòng)物的形狀。燈籠象征著人們送別過(guò)去的自己并迎接嶄新的自己，年復(fù)一年，周而復(fù)始。燈籠基本上是紅色的，用以象征好運(yùn)。

　　In Hong Kong, it is commercialized as the Chinese equivalent of Valentine's Day. It is not to be confused with the Mid-Autumn Festival, which is sometimes also known as the "Lantern Festival" in locations such as Singapore and Malaysia.

　　在香港，元宵節(jié)已經(jīng)被商業(yè)化，被人們當(dāng)作中國(guó)的情人節(jié)。元宵節(jié)不應(yīng)該和中秋節(jié)混為一談，盡管在新加坡和馬來(lái)西亞等地區(qū)，中秋節(jié)有時(shí)候被叫做"燈籠節(jié)"。