Residents of Tianshenggang town, Chongchuan district, Nantong perform a dragon dance to celebrate the Lantern Festival on Feb 14. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the first month on the Chinese lunar calendar, which is Feb 15 this year. Its arrival also marks the end of Spring Festival celebrations.

Watching lantern shows is a custom across China during the Lantern Festival. Nantong's lantern show runs from the 13th day to the 18th day of the first month on the Chinese lunar calendar and attracts thousands of viewers each year.

The rural areas of Nantong also have a unique practice—torch burning, according to Wang Yuming, honorary president of the Nantong Folk Writers and Artists Association.

In the past, Nantong villagers would make bundles of straw with reed and thatch and burn them after sunset. They would walk along their own farmland with the burning bundles to kill pests and pray for a good harvest. The straw ashes would then turn into potash fertilizer to fertilize the farmland.

Residents of Liuhong village, Haimen district, Nantong make tangyuan to celebrate the Lantern Festival on Feb 14. [Photo/ntfabu.com]

Tangyuan is a kind of round and sweet dumpling made of glutinous rice flour. Eating them at the Lantern Festival gradually became a tradition during the Ming and Qing dynasties (1368-1911).