指尖上的新年（二十三）：正月十五 上元食湯圓
Today is the 15th day of the 1st month in Lunar Calendar. Today is commonly celebrated by all Chinese people as Yuan Xiao Jie (元宵節) or more well known as Lantern Festival in English. This festival is also called Shang Yuan Jie (上元節).
今天是農歷正月十五。今天是所有中國人慶祝的元宵節或是在英語中更熟知的Lantern Festival.也被稱為上元節。
The 15th day of the 7th lunar month is Zhong Yuan Jie (中元節, or Hunger Ghost Festival in English) and the 15th day of the 10th lunar month is Xia Yuan Jie (下元節).
農歷七月十五是中元節，而農歷十月十五是下元節。
Shang Yuan Jie or Yuan Xiao Jie is a major festival in China. And the activities of Chinese New Year will reach a high point on this day.
上元節或叫元宵節是中國的主要節日。新年的活動將在這一天到達高潮。
Early on the morning of this day, there will be dragon dancing and lion dancing parades in the streets, and all the streets will be crowded with people.
這天早上，街上將會有舞龍舞獅的遊行，所有街道都會充滿人。
The happiest moment comes in the evening of this day. In the evening, families will go out together to enjoy the glorious full moon and appreciate colourful lanterns and also solve the lantern riddles.
最開心的時刻在這天的夜晚來到。在晚上，家人會一起外出賞月，欣賞五彩的燈籠以及猜燈謎。
In some places of China, people even fly Kongming Lantern (孔明燈, as shown on the top right hand corner in my drawing) which their beautiful wishes are written.
在中國的某些地方，人們還會放孔明燈，上面寫著他們的美好願望。
元宵 (yuan xiao) is a traditional food made of glutinous rice flour. Glutinous rice flour is mixed with a small amount of water to form balls with sweet filling (e.g. Black sesame as shown in my drawing and peanuts or red beans) and is then cooked and served in boiling water.
元宵是一種傳統食物，它由糯米粉製成。糯米粉混合著少量的水做成球，裏面填充甜的芯（例如圖上畫的黑芝麻或是花生或是紅豆），然後用開水煮熟並端上桌。
This food is usually eaten together with family. The round shape of the balls and the bowls where they are served, come to symbolise the family togetherness and reunion.
元宵通常是與家人一同食用。裝著圓形的元宵的碗象征著家庭的和睦、團圓。
This food is also known as Tang Yuan (湯圓). According to the legend, during the period of Yuan Shikai’s (袁世凱) rule from AD 1912 to 1916, he disliked the name Yuan Xiao (元宵) because it sounded identical to “remove Yuan” (袁消), and so he gave orders to change the name to Tang Yuan.
這也被叫做湯圓。據說，從公元1912到1916年的袁世凱時期，他不喜歡“元宵”這個名字，因為這聽起來像“袁消”。于是，他命令改名叫“湯圓”。
This day officially marks the end of Chinese New Year celebration.
這天也正式標志著新年的結束。