Gallery: Lights fantastic at Shanghai Lantern Festival
Spring Festival celebrations end with the Lantern Festival (元宵节), and Shanghaining see this three-day period as a good reason to grab their rabbit-shaped lanterns, eat some tangyuan (rice dumplings with sweet or meat fillings) and enjoy the general celebratory chaos.
- More on CNNGo: The best place to celebrate the Lantern Festival (元宵节)
Ground zero for Shanghai Lantern Festival celebration is Yuyuan, where revelers pack into the area with tens of thousands of their nearest and dearest neighbors to see the decorative lantern show that’s put on here every year.
The streets are packed with almost as many lights as people there to see them. For the claustrophobes (or those that just aren't medicated enough to take crowds like that), one photographer risked life, limb and lens to capture the lantern festival crowds in action, from the rabbit lanterns to the parade, light show and delicious food.
The celebrations continue through tonight -- February 18 -- if this motivates you to go see for yourself.
It wouldn't be a Shanghai festival without food.For the sake of safety, organizers have limited the number of people entering the Yu Gardens area after the massive crowds on the first day, so a ticketing policy will be applied if it gets overcrowded. What exactly does that mean? Get there early.
The ticket price for the Yu Gardens Lantern Festival is RMB 80. You can get your pass at the ticket office near the entrance of the show. Call +86 21 6355 999 for more details.
