China's State Post Bureau issued a set of commemorative stamps
featuring Chinese folk lanterns in celebration of the century-old
traditional Lantern Festival on Sunday.
The serial stamps include five sheetlets depicting a fish
lantern, a cabbage lantern, a lotus lantern, a dragon and phoenix
lantern and a butterfly lantern.
The Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions also
issued stamps on lanterns on the same day. This is the sixth time
the interior area, Hong Kong and Macao to do joint issue on a
common theme.
Making lanterns out of paper and cloth is China's traditional
folk art. Pictures of people, landscapes, flowers and animals are
printed, drawn or embroidered on the lanterns.
On the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the
first lunar month, Chinese hang up hand-made lanterns and solve
lantern riddles at a special lantern show.
(Xinhua News Agency February 13, 2006)
