Chinese Lantern Festival | Philadelphia

The Lantern Festival aims to promote reconciliation, peace, and forgiveness. During the festival, houses are festooned with colorful lanterns, often with riddles written on them; if the riddle is answered correctly, the solver earns a small gift. Festival celebrations also include lion and dragon dances, parades, and fireworks.

The Lantern Festival may originate as far back as the Han dynasty (206 BCE to 220 CE), when Buddhist monks would light lanterns on the 15th day of the lunar year in honor of the Buddha. The rite was later adopted by the general population and spread throughout China and other parts of Asia.

Got a chance to witness various performances featuring variety of Chinese entertainment and art. Some of the performances I had witnessed were:

Face Changing – An ancient Chinese dramatic art where a performer changes masks quicker than you can blink in this 300-year tradition of the Sichuan opera. The mystery is if the audience can notice the moment he changes his mask.

Plate Spinning – A traditional Chinese acrobatic performance where a person spins plates, bowls, and other flat objects on 3-foot bamboo poles, without dropping anything. The spinning plates resemble lotus leaves in the breeze and butterflies flying among flowers.

Feet Juggling: This feat shows a performer rolling and juggling porcelain bowls, equipment, or other performers with his or her feet.

Water-Spinning: A glass bowl with water is tied on each end of a colorful string, which the performers spin carefully without spilling a drop.

Contortion – Contortionists showcase their skills of extreme physical flexibility within a narrow barrel accompanied by music or balancing ornamental lights on their feet, hands, and face as they twist and turn and stretch toward the sky.

Jar-Juggling – Different kinds of porcelain jars are rolled by the performer’s head, hands, feet, and arms.