The Cordova daily times., 1922-04-26
LANTERN TEAS? ISpESCRIBEDBY
 AMERICAN GIRL
Gods Welcomed Back From Vacation by
 Grand Parade.
By EDNA LEE BOOKER
International News Service Staff
 Correspondent


 International News Service Staff
 Correspondent)
 SHANGHAI, April 26. New Or leans may have it's Mardi Gras, St. Louis it's Yelled Prophet Parade, Paris it's Bastile Day, Dallas it's State Fair, but Shanghai has it's Lantern Feast and Festival.
 Pink rabbits-the kind that grow only in dreams, story books and China exquisite lotus blossoms, red fish, with great staring eyes; yellow dra- gons, with long, undulating bodies, and any number of other flowers, fish and animals are invading the Chinese city and the settlement and giving a bright note of color and romance to gray rainy Shanghai.
 The annual Lantern Festival and Feast of the Lanterns has just been celebrated in China.
 In the Chinese homes the older boys made the lanterns of paper, silk cloth and bamboo for their little brothers and sisters to carry on Lan- tern Day.
 HOLD MANY sUPERSTlTloNS
 There are many superstitions and customs regarding the Lantern Fes- tival, which, by the way, is one of the most spectacular of the many Chi nese religious celebrations.
 The Feast of the LanterAs dates back some two thousand years to the Han dynasty and was originally a cer- eminial worship held during the first full moone of the new year to bring the New Years celebrations official ly to clos&
 Chinese also declare that during the Chinese New Year all the gods have been off to heaven on a vacation and that on their return to the earth the people give them a cordial welcome by shooting off firecrackers, holding lantern processions, giving theatricals and employing the sing-song boys to clang their cymbals and blow their flutes in the temples and private gardens.
 PICTURESQUE PROFESSIONS
 In the interior cities of China and even in Shanghai picturesque lantern processions are held. Hundreds of boys. in gorgeously embroidered coats, carrying the lighted flowers, birds and Lanimals, wend their way through the narrow, dark little streets crowded with laughing, chatting Chinese, all tout for a good time."
 The feature of a procession is the great, wriggling, undulating dragon from thirty to forty feet in length, which is carried on the shoulders Of boys whose heads are hidden in the brilliantly illuminated facsimile body of the great monster.
 Bands of Chinese, costumed in reds and green, richly embroidered and with elaborate headdresses, playing the weird haunting music of the Or tent. are features of the procession.
 ILLUMINATED ANIMALS
 Besides the great flower lanterns, which are very beautiful, are trick animals, performing horses, water buffaloes drawing water, various gods such as one sees in the temples ana Illuminated busts of heroes of China and even of America.
 The candleends from the dragons are sought by childless women, eager for souvenirs
 Lanterns are hung on the pagodas, which reach toward the sky like great pine trees, and when lighted the pa godas give the effect, at distance, Of giant Christmas trees. In the temples special prayers are offered by the Taoists, and theatricals lasting three days are held in many Buddhist tenn ples.
 Tourists who came to China during the Chinese New Year celebrations had glimpse into the picturesque story book life of the ancient Orient, which is unchanged by foreign influ- ence.