Firecrackers popped last night nearly simultaneously in Xiamen in Fujian Province on the Chinese mainland and on Taiwan's small island of Jinmen, which is more than 4,000 metres away.

At least 100,000 people in Xiamen enjoyed the air show.

Such celebrations started in 1987 and were abruptly stopped 10 years later by the Taiwan side.

Although most Chinese people have returned to work after the Spring Festival holiday, Tuesday's traditional Lantern Festival ensured that the festive atmosphere lingered across the country a bit longer.

Chen Yingsu, a Beijing resident, bought sweet rice dumplings in Beijing's Dong'an Department Store in honour of the Lantern Festival.

"Today is the Lantern Festival, and such dumplings are a must for this festival," Chen said.

The special day falls on 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar and marks the end of the New Year celebrations.

To celebrate, people eat sweet rice dumplings, which are round and symbolize the full moon, and hang brightly decorated lanterns. Other activities, such as fireworks displays and riddle-guessing, are also popular.

"We started offering sweet rice dumplings as early as last Tuesday," said Ren Yali, a seller in the Dong'an Department Store who was busy wrapping dumplings for customers.

And a small shop on Beijing's Dongdan Street sold more than 20 lanterns within two hours Tuesday morning, Beijing Evening News reported.

In other parts of the country, people's excitement for the festival was just as strong.

(China Daily February 27, 2002)