The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the first lunar month — the first full moon of the new year. This celestial timing is deeply intentional. The full moon represents completeness, reunion, and the wholeness of family. Gathering together under the brightest moon of the new year is an act of communal harmony and shared joy.

The festival's origins are disputed among scholars, with theories linking it to Han Emperor Ming's promotion of Buddhism (monks would light lanterns to honor the Buddha on this night), to ancient Taoist celestial worship, or to the pardoning of government servants by the emperor who would allow them to go out and view lanterns with their families after weeks of New Year service.

One of the most distinctive and beloved activities of the Lantern Festival is guessing riddles written on slips of paper and attached to lanterns. Known as cāidēngmí (猜灯谜), this tradition dates back to the Song Dynasty, when scholars and poets would compose clever riddles as an intellectual game for festival-goers.

The riddles are written on strips of paper and hung from lanterns throughout parks, temples, and public spaces. Participants read the clues and try to guess the answer — which might be a word, character, historical figure, or literary reference. Solving a riddle and presenting the correct answer to the lantern's owner earns a small prize. The tradition blends entertainment, literary appreciation, and community interaction in a uniquely festive way.

No Lantern Festival is complete without tangyuan (汤圆) — small round balls of glutinous rice flour, typically filled with sweet sesame paste, peanut, red bean, or lotus paste, served in a warm sweet broth. The roundness of the tangyuan echoes the roundness of the full moon and symbolizes family togetherness and unity.

The name tangyuan is also significant: "yuan" (圆) means round, but it is a near-homophone of "yuan" (缘), meaning fate or connection, and "tuan yuan" (团圆), meaning family reunion. Eating tangyuan together is therefore a deeply symbolic act of affirming the bonds between family members and welcoming a year of togetherness.