元宵佳節的各種習俗
Eating Yuanxiao
吃元宵
Yuanxiao is the special food for the Lantern Festival. It is believed that Yuanxiao is named after a palace maid, Yuanxiao, of Emperor Wu Di of the Han Dynasty.
元宵是元宵節的特色食品。據說，元宵是因漢武帝時期的一位名叫元宵的宮女而得名。
Yuanxiao is a kind of sweet dumpling, which is made with sticky rice flour filled with sweet stuffing.
元宵是一種帶餡兒的甜食，是由糯米粉加上甜的餡料製成。
And the Festival is named after the famous dumpling.
元宵節就是因此食品得名。
It is very easy to cook - simply dump them in a pot of boiling water for a few minutes - and eaten as a desert.
元宵的烹製方法非常簡單，將元宵倒入裝滿沸水的鍋中煮幾分鐘就可以了。
Guessing lantern riddles
猜燈謎
"Guessing lantern riddles"is an essential part of the Festival.
猜燈謎也是元宵節活動的一個基本組成部分。
Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns.
燈籠的所有者將謎語寫在一張紙條上，然後將紙條展示在燈籠上。
If visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answer.
如果賞燈者猜出謎語，就將紙條取出，然後找燈籠所有者確認答案。
If they are right, they will get a little gift.
答對的話，他們就可以領取一份小禮品。
The activity emerged during people's enjoyment of lanterns in the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
這個活動起源於宋朝（960——1279）。
As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular among all social strata.
猜燈謎活動極富情趣和智慧，因此在全社會廣受歡迎。
Watch fireworks
看煙火
In the daytime of the Festival, performances such as a dragon lantern dance, a lion dance, a land boat dance, a yangge dance, walking on stilts and beating drums while dancing will be staged.
元宵節的白天會有舞龍舞獅、劃旱船、扭秧歌、踩高蹺。
On the night, except for magnificent lanterns, fireworks form a beautiful scene.
而在晚上，除了各種大型燈會，燦爛的焰火也是一幅美麗的畫卷。
Most families spare some fireworks from the Spring Festival and let them off in the Lantern Festival.
很多家庭在春節時會留下一部分煙花等着元宵節放。
Some local governments will even organize a fireworks party.
有的地方政府甚至會組織焰火晚會。
On the night when the first full moon enters the New Year, people become really intoxicated by the imposing fireworks and bright moon in the sky.
當新年的第一輪圓月升上夜空時，人們都會因燃放的煙火和空中的明月而興奮。
