Folk activities offered to celebrate Lantern Festival

Flower exchanging

A foreigner from Poland exchanges flowers with a girl to offer blessings. [Photo by Zhang Mao/Hainan Daily]

Qiongshan district is expected to be the liveliest area in Haikou on the day of the Lantern Festival as locals will celebrate the Fucheng Flower-Exchanging Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

The festival developed from the custom of exchanging joss sticks and candles as a way to deliver wishes and promote relationships between relatives and friends. It has gradually become a way to express love between young men and women. Festival parades, lion dances, lantern riddle-solving, and Qiong Opera performances also add to the festive atmosphere.