Raise the red lantern

Published: 
Agence France-Presse
Listen to this article

Meet the villagers who make all those beautiful red lanterns

Agence France-Presse |
Published: 
Comment

Latest Articles

UN World Food Program director rings the alarm about food shortage in Haiti

Hong Kong Ocean Park to be the new home for Passion, 2-metre-long crocodile

EU not ready to fight climate change dangers, warns environment agency

Local commute goes green: Hong Kong launches first hydrogen-powered bus

Lanterns hand from the ancient wall of Changting County, southeast China's Fujian Province. Lanterns in China have a long history and they have become synonymous with Chinese culture.

Carefully steadying the gleaming red lantern between her knees, a worker applied the Chinese character for "wealth" in golden glitter - one of the millions that will illuminate the forthcoming Lunar New Year.

A high wooden arch at the entrance to the snowy village of Tuntou, in Hebei province southwest of Beijing, proclaims it the "lantern capital" of the People’s Republic.

Bai Liwei, the village's Party leader, said proudly: "80 to 90 per cent of the lanterns used in China come from here."

For the past two months, the town has been churning out the pumpkin-shaped lamps in preparation for the biggest holiday of the year in the world's most populous country.

Known as the "Spring Festival" in China, the holiday, which falls on February 8 on this occasion, compares in importance to Christmas in the West, and marks a time when far-flung family members return home for merriment and meals - according to tradition, they must be back by midnight on the eve of the new year.

Workers make red lanterns at a factory in the village of Tuntou, in Hebei province.
Photo: Agence France-Presse

Tuntou village has specialised in hand made lanterns for nearly 40 years. It is not the site of enormous factories, instead the industry is driven by private workshops in which families concentrate on the production of a single lantern element - their spindly metal frames, the exterior "skin" of fabric or silk, the decorative inscriptions.

At the back of one assembly unit, high piles of nearly completed lanterns awaited processing, while workers wielded wooden canes to lift others high off the ground to dangle delicately from the ceiling.

The colour red symbolises luck and happiness in Chinese culture, and the lanterns are seen throughout towns and countryside, shown most important occasions: marriages, business openings, and most of all the Lunar New Year, which generally falls in late January or early to mid February.

"Outside of the peak holiday season, we also receive special requests: giant models, for example, or orders to decorate the Forbidden City in Beijing," explained Bai.

"Tens of millions of lanterns are produced each year and all or almost all of them are sold. Some are exported to Southeast Asia, the US or Japan. It's become an economic pillar for the village."

Traditionally, positive Chinese characters such as "happiness", "peace", and "family" are painted on their sides.

But in recent years their inscriptions have become increasingly political.

"The majority of these lanterns are decorated with one of the 12 socialist core values' promoted by President Xi Jinping," said Bai.

In Chinese homes across the world, this new year will be ushered in by concepts including prosperity, health, good studying and wealth.

 

Sign up for the YP Teachers Newsletter
Get updates for teachers sent directly to your inbox
By registering, you agree to our T&C and Privacy Policy
Comment