What are Chinese paper lanterns?
Lanterns (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. d¨¥ng long) are hung on Chinese New Year¡¯s Eve (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. Ch¨² X¨©) and stay until the end of the Chinese Lantern Festival (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. Yu¨¢n Xi¨¡o Ji¨¦), fifteen (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. sh¨ª w¨³) days after the Chinese New Year (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. Ch¨±n Ji¨¦).
Chinese lanterns are often red (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. h¨®ng s¨¨ de) and round, with Chinese characters or drawings printed on them.
How do you make a Chinese paper lantern?
You will need:
- an A4 sheet of thin card (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. k¨£ pi¨¤n)
- a pair of safety scissors (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. Âá¾±¨£²Ô d¨¡o)
- glue (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. ji¨¡o shu¨«) or tape (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. ji¨¡o d¨¤i)
- coloured pens (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. shu¨« c¨£i b¨«) or pencils (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. qi¨¡n b¨«)
Instructions:
Print out (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. d¨£ y¨¬n) the template onto an A4 sheet of thin card.
Colour in the flowers (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. ³ó³Ü¨¡) and add the Chinese characters provided, or any pattern that you like.
Fold (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. ³ú³ó¨¦) the card in half long ways, and carefully cut (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. Âá¾±¨£²Ô) along the dotted lines.
Fold the card around on itself, so that the cuts run from top (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. sh¨¤ng mi¨¤n) to bottom (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. xi¨¤ mi¨¤n), and use glue or tape to hold it together.
Bend the smaller rectangle (Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. ch¨¢ng f¨¡ng x¨ªng) template into an arch and stick it to the top of the lantern as a handle.
If you don't have a printer, why not try tracing the template?
Image caption, Step 1
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Click below to download the instructions and template
Key Mandarin words
| Mandarin | Pinyin | English |
|---|---|---|
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Ch¨² X¨© | Chinese New Year's Eve |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Ch¨±n Ji¨¦ | Chinese New Year |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | d¨¥ng long | lantern |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | h¨®ng s¨¨ de | red |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | ³ó³Ü¨¡ | flowers |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Âá¾±¨£²Ô | cut |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | Yu¨¢n Xi¨¡o Ji¨¦ | Chinese Lantern Festival |
| Check your connection, refresh the page and try again. | ³ú³ó¨¦ | fold |
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