Lanterns alight in Pingxi Feb 8, 2020

Lanterns alight in Pingxi

Today"s Lantern Festival marks the final day of Lunar (aka Chinese) New Year celebrations, which began back on January 25. The day of the festival is filled with dancing, firecrackers, children"s games, and food. Nighttime brings a quieter, more thoughtful way to start the new year. After sundown, celebrants may gather at a designated area to light and release paper lanterns into the dark sky. Many think of the lantern as symbolic of the "old you"—and by letting the old you go, the past is released and you can start the new year fresh. This multiple-exposure composite image shows the trail of "sky lanterns" as they"re ascending over Pingxi, a district in Taiwan.

© Jung-Pang Wu/Getty Images

palette

Today in History

Feb 8, 2018The Cordillera de la Sal in the Cordillera Domeyko Range of Chile
Feb 8, 2019A winter light show
Feb 8, 2021A hero for the 21st century
Feb 8, 2022Extraterrestrial Culture Day
Feb 8, 2023Uredd Rest Area, Norway
Feb 8, 2024Mount Hood, Oregon
Feb 8, 2025Medieval towers in Mestia, Upper Svaneti, Georgia
Feb 8, 2026Corfu at night, Greece

More Desktop Wallpapers:

Aug 29, 2022Baltic Sea, Estonia
Oct 16, 2018Hey, who’s in charge here?
May 20, 2025World Bee Day
Mar 11, 2023Marshland, Gloucester, MA
May 15, 2018Celebrating the UN’s International Day of Families
Jun 20, 2021Happy Father s Day
Sep 29, 2023Mid-Autumn Festival
Apr 9, 2018The Lena Delta Wildlife Reserve in Siberia, Russia
Dec 12, 2023Poinsettia Day
Dec 11, 2025International Mountain Day
Jan 10, 2024Take the Stairs Day
Oct 26, 2023Schönbrunn Palace Park, Vienna, Austria
Jul 27, 2024Vineyards in the Mosel Valley, Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany
Aug 17, 2021Wanderin Wawayanda
Sep 15, 2026Hispanic Heritage Month
Mar 4, 2018Australian baobab tree, Kimberley region, Western Australia
Jan 12, 2019Sailing across the ice
May 3, 2021It s Teacher Appreciation Week
Sep 15, 2025Dallas Latino Cultural Center for Hispanic Heritage
Feb 10, 2020This park is Superkilen
Aug 22, 2019Dancing waters of Dubai
May 10, 2024Misool, Raja Ampat Islands, Indonesia
Nov 16, 2019Mountain mists over Bavaria
Sep 15, 2022Hispanic Heritage Month
Dec 9, 2020It s Computer Science Education Week
Sep 17, 2024Mid-Autumn Festival
Jun 9, 2019Crown Fountain by Jume Plensa at Millennium Park in Chicago
Jan 14, 2026National Take the Stairs Day
Jan 2, 2023Hohenzollern Castle near Stuttgart, Germany
Aug 20, 2026An orca near the Chilkat Mountains, Lynn Canal, Alaska