Chinese Newlyweds Get Marriage Licenses on Valentine's Day + Lantern Festival

Newlyweds pose for marriage photos at a marriage registry on the Valentine's Day as well as the Chinese traditional Lantern Festival in Boxing County of Binzhou City, east China's Shandong Province, Feb. 14, 2014. Many newlyweds chose to get marriage licenses on the Valentine's Day this year, as it coincides with the Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar.

The Lantern Festival (上元节 元宵节) is a festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar year in the lunar calendar marking the last day of the lunar New Year celebration.

In ancient times, the lanterns were fairly simple, and only the emperor and noblemen had large ornate ones. In modern times, lanterns have been embellished with many complex designs. For example, lanterns are now often made in the shape of animals. The lanterns can symbolize the people letting go of their past selves and getting new ones, which they will let go of the next year. The lanterns are almost always red to symbolize good fortune.

In Hong Kong, it is commercialized as the Chinese equivalent of Valentine's Day.

Many Happy faces. Bless them !