On the 15th day of Chinese New Year we celebrate Yuan Xiao. In the old days, as children entertained themselves with paper lanterns of all shapes and forms, grown ups would solve riddles and puzzles, while others worked in the kitchen, preparing the glutinous rice flour to make Tang Yuan (glutinous ball in soup), meticulously filling each and everyone of these white balls.

As a chubby toddler, I looked forward to playing with Rabbit Lanterns every year. Some traditions have been lost over the years, kids don’t put down their video games for these old school kind of fun, it’s truly a shame. Bright colorful lanterns can only be seen in busy shopping areas now a days, at least in Shanghai. Thankfully the eating part has been some what conserved in each family, though most likely store bought rather than made from scratch.