The 15th day of the first Chinese lunar month is the Lantern Festival (元宵节 yuánxiāo jié) in China. Traditionally it symbolizes the final day of the Chinese New Year celebrations. In 2017, the Lantern Festival is on February 11th.
During the Lantern Festival, children go out at night, carry paper lanterns (纸灯笼 zhǐ dēnglóng) and solve riddles on the lanterns (猜灯谜 cāi dēngmèi). In old days, paper lanterns were quite simply designed. But in recent days, paper lanterns tend to be more colorful and diversified. People have more choices regarding to paper lanterns.
Chinese people also have family gatherings during the Lantern Festival, where they eat glutinous rice balls (汤圆 tāngyuán). Tang Yuan is a traditional Chinese food typically filled with peanut butter, sesame paste, or red bean paste. Chinese people believe the round shape of the balls symbolizes family togetherness （家庭团圆 jiātíng tuányuán）, and eating Tang Yuan brings happiness and good luck to the family in the new year.
Here are some common Lantern Festival greeting messages in Chinese:
元宵节快乐 (yuánxiāo jié kuàilè) - Happy Lantern Festival.
汤圆给你送来幸福! (Tāngyuán gěi nǐ sòng lái xìngfú!) 花灯照亮你的前程! (Huādēng zhào liàng nǐ de qiánchéng!) - Tang Yuan brings you happiness! Lanterns lights up your future!
家和万事兴 (jiā hé wànshì xīng) - Harmony brings wealth.
Celebrate the Lantern Festival by starting to learn Chinese today!