Each year during the Lantern Festival, the Capital sets up a lantern market stretching tens of miles. From the eighth day of the first lunar month to the peak at the fifteenth, every night the lanterns and fireworks illuminate the night sky, with the sounds of drums, acrobatics, and revelry lasting until dawn.
From the taverns above, officials, noblemen, and the wealthy youth drink and make merry as they gaze upon the city ablaze with lights.
The lantern market below is so crowded one can hardly turn around.
Although tonight is the fifteenth of the first month, the moon is nowhere to be seen; the sky is filled with innumerable stars, and the lantern market is as bright as daylight, resembling a cluster of stunning and beautiful fireflies.
