The holiday falls in late October. Celebrants place small oil-filled lamps along the parapets of temples and houses and also float them on rivers and streams. The Chinese Lantern Festival is celebrated in the middle of the first month of the lunar calendar, sometime between late January and late February. It closes the Chinese New Year celebration. An ancient Chinese myth depicts celestial spirits flying about in the light of the first full moon of the lunar calendar.
Celebrants hang colorful lanterns at temples.
In addition to the psychological need for light throughout the winter, modern science has taught us that there is a physical need as well. SAD victims usually feel the onset of symptoms in the fall and feel relief setting in by the spring. Doctors prescribe exposure to a light box in the morning. Generally the light boxes use a bright light with a frequency spectrum closely simulating the frequencies of natural sunlight. The required length of exposure depends on the severity of the winter depression.