The lantern festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the Lunar New Year, and marks the final day of the New Year holidays. Of course people have already gone back to work at this point, but it brings the celebrations to an official close.
In Mandarin, the lantern festival is called "yuan xiao jie". "Yuan" is a word used to refer to the first month on the lunar calendar – "yuan yue". "Xiao" is a word that refers to the night time. So, "yuan xiao" is actually the first night in the first month of the lunar year when you can see a full moon. In keeping with tradition, people in the Chinese-speaking world will hang colorful lanterns when there is a bright full moon in the night sky.
The origins of the Lantern Festival are difficult to trace, and the stories are more numerous than the ways to celebrate the holiday. But today, it has become a festival to share with friends and family. People eat tangyuan, or glutinous rice balls, because they are a symbol of or togetherness – which in Chinese is "tuan yuan."
In the Tang Dynasty, people began guessing lantern riddles which often contained positive messages about things like prosperity, good fortune, love, and family reunion.
Today in Taiwan, people visit lantern displays, which often feature huge lanterns created in the shape of animals, and of course the most popular animal each year is the animal that corresponds with the Chinese zodiac for that year.
One particularly beautiful lantern festival can be witnessed in the town of Pingxi in New Taipei City. Every year on the lantern festival, more than 2,000 sky lanterns are launched, filling the skies with beautiful flickering lanterns bearing messages and good wishes for the year to come.