A lot to choose from for this year's Lantern Festival on Sunday
A plethora of events, ranging from traditional cultural activities to music parties, will be held across the city to celebrate the Lantern Festival on Sunday.
Cycling race and riddle guessing – a tradition for the festival – will be held at Jiabei Country Park in Jiading District. A Shanghai-style farce performance and folk singers will entice visitors at Fengjing Ancient Town in Jinshan District, the Shanghai Administration of Culture and Tourism said.
Shanghai Happy Valley is decorated for the Lantern Festival.
Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park in the Pudong New Area will host electroacoustic parties that combine traditional hanfu (traditional Han clothes) exhibitions and guochao (Chinese chic) music.
Molten "iron flower" performance, which comes from Henan Province and is part of its intangible cultural heritage, will also be staged.
A giant yuanxiao, a traditional food made of glutinous rice and filled with a variety of ingredients, will be served, and visitors will be invited to prepare a feast for polar bears at the park.
The dumplings will be stuffed with the favorite food of polar bears, and visitors may make their own rabbit lanterns in the park.
Polar bears at Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park will enjoy a yuanxiao banquet.
A bonfire party with fireworks displays will be held at Jinshan's Huakaihaishang Ecological Garden.
A lantern show will be held along with riddle guessing and guofeng (traditional Chinese clothing) parades at Shanghai Happy Valley in Songjiang District.
Molten "iron flower" performance at Shanghai Haichang Ocean Park
Chinese travel website Mafengwo reported that searches for festival-related activities have increased by 137 percent. Many people are skipping the weeklong Spring Festival holiday in favor of the Lantern Festival because it is significantly less expensive, they said.
Night excursions and lantern shows are popular, with the fairs at Xi'an Circumvallation, Yuyuan Garden, Zigong City, Qinhuai River scenic area, Beijing Shiyuan Park and Suzhou Xietang Ancient Street among preferred choices.
A bonfire party will be held at the Huakaihaishang Ecological Garden in Jinshan District.
According to the website, young people choose to take a quick break from the city during the festival. Popular locations include Jiangmen City in Guangdong Province and Gubei Water Town in Beijing.
"Chinese youth are interested in traditional cultural and folk customs and rituals as they are enthusiastic about participating in various folk culture experiences and are willing to share these on social media," according to Feng Rao, a tourism analyst.
Yuanxiao (dumplings with glutinous rice and a variety of fillings) is a traditional must-have to celebrate the Lantern Festival.
