The Mooncake Festival is not just about mooncakes, it's also about gathering, family and friends, and of course lanterns! The tradition has always been to walk around where we live with lanterns and "compete" to see which kid has the biggest and brightest lantern.
However, as our lives and technology has changed, so have lanterns. Do you know have children who still play with lanterns? Do you remember the kind of lanterns you used to play with? Today, we have a quick look at the evolution of lanterns played with during the mooncake festival.
Traditional Folding Lantern (Accordion Style)
This is considered the OG of OGs. One of the most traditional lanterns that children play with since more than 20 years ago! The accordion design allows it to be folded down to a size that is thinner than a slice of bread.
To play with it, you have to place a candle on the tiny metal holder in the middle then CAREFULLY pull it up, so as to not have part of the accordion "bent in". Most of the time is then spent preventing the the candle from touching the lantern as this will send the whole lantern up in flames.
We'd then have to change another one, after getting a scolding from our parents, of course.
Glass Paper Lantern
Then came the glass paper lantern and a whole new wave of lantern competing that came with it. This is because the glass paper lantern allows plenty of new designs. Dragons, Rabbits, and Pokémon were all possible and they weren't expensive too.
The candles go into a metal "spring" holder and the best part is because the entire lantern is solid, there is no chance of burning down anything!
Traditional Battery Powered Lantern (with Music!)
You know, the ones with the red handles where you have to insert 2 or 3 AA batteries in. During the prime of these lanterns, they trump every other type of lantern in the market. Their hidden power? Loud electronic music that you will find in the toy phones you get for children.
The changing spinning lights definitely helped as well. Although this does mean that there is no danger of fire, but everyone that has this will know how quickly these things break and they are not cheap!
LED Lanterns
And so we've come to the final form. The most modern of all lighting solutions - LEDs. No huge batteries needed yet still super bright. Also, the outer body of the lantern can be any material and design since there is no danger of burning. You can have paper lanterns with cut holes that can give off a disco ball effect. You can also print any design you want to with a computer. The possibilities are endless!
No matter how the lanterns change and whatever lantern you choose to play with, what's most important is to not let the kid inside you die. The traditions of our culture should be passed on to the next generation. Even with the pandemic going on strong, it shouldn't stop us from celebrating with our loved ones at home!
