The Spring Festival has come to an end here in China, culminating with the Lantern Festival on February 28. While the Chinese New Year's Eve has its own traditions such as eating dumplings or fish and setting off fireworks to celebrate, the last day of the holiday season also has its own special significance to Chinese families.

CRI Reporter Andrea Hunt has the story:

Here in China, Sunday was more than just the last day of February. It was the Year of the Tiger's Lantern Festival. Fifteen days after the celebratory bash to mark Chinese New Year, the full moon ushered in a lustrous atmosphere of lanterns and riddles, "Yuanxiao" rice dumplings and family unity.　　

One local Tianjin woman explains what the holiday means to her.

"In China, no matter how far away from our homes we are, during the Spring Festival we make it a point to travel back home and reunite with our family members. The lantern festival is one of the most significant days in our culture. The lantern is something unique to and representative of the Chinese culture.

The Lantern Festival has remained a Chinese tradition kindled over the centuries by people's affection for elegant beauty and detail. Emperors sometimes kept the Lantern Festival going for days and invited visitors from afar to revel in the beauty of brilliantly lit lanterns, delicate and spectacularly hung.

The festival has evolved over the years, says Liuyang, who works in Beijing but is from the southern city of Suzhou.

"During these traditional celebrations, there are usually events and activities of a larger scale. There'll be big, really huge lanterns and also a really big tree that's hung and decorated with many lanterns with riddles on them. Whoever answers a riddle correctly can win a prize."

The lantern riddles are written to boggle the minds of temple fair participants as they dangle tauntingly from the lanterns. They're often based on a pun, songs or poetry and are often humorous in nature.

Since 2010 is Year of the Tiger, the wire lanterns have also taken the shape of the ferocious feline said to represent strength and passion. The lanterns are created in an astoundingly diverse range of sizes; some are literally meters wide and are crafted carefully over a period of several days.

Sichuan Province boasted not only the "Zigong Lantern Festival," said to be the biggest in the world but also the "Best Tiger Lantern ever".

Not to be left out, big Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai hosted their own lantern festivals with radiant lanterns symbolizing their respective cities.

Shanghai's Lantern Festival had lanterns shaped after Shanghai Expo 2010's mascots while Beijing had fiery spark-spitting dragons. Notably, in modern times, the lanterns of mythic proportions use bulbs inside due to fire safety concerns.

By the lakeside, however, families still use small, frail paper lanterns with tiny flames inside. They float daintily in an almost fairy-like fashion above the water until finally burning out.

Indeed, Chinese culture is full of culinary traditions and the Lantern Festival, or "Yuanxiao Jie" in Chinese, should be celebrated with a tasty snack made of sticky rice balls stuffed with red bean or sweet pastes called "Yuanxiao".

Liuyang sheds a light on why "Yuanxiao" are more than just chewy goodness.

"The Yuanxiao Festival involves the whole process of eating these sweet glutinous rice dumplings. From the making of these rice balls, to cooking them, to enjoying them together as a family, we can really enjoy the warmth of our families and soak in the atmosphere of this joyous occasion."

He adds, however, that not everyone can go home for the Spring Festival.

Take me for an example, I didn't return home this year. But back in my younger days my parents would make these sweet rice dumplings for us and eating them really warmed my heart and made me feel very blessed and fortunate.

Although "Yuanxiao" were sold all over the streets and in the stores last weekend, those who were unable to make the journey home to visit family said the warmth and taste of a home-cooked meal cannot be overrated nor duplicated.

All the same, for some, eating the store bought "Yuanxiao" may be the only option for those needing a small reminder of a time long ago when things seemed a bit simpler.

For China Now, I'm Andrea Hunt