“今夕知何夕？团圆事事同。”今日元宵节，作为每年第一个月圆之日，是新年庆贺活动的延续。人们在这一天吃元宵、赏花灯，家家户户团圆祈福、孝老爱亲，这份融合了亲情、友情和乡情的文化记忆，是中华民族从来未曾断裂过的文化传承，是血脉情缘中的团圆“家”文化。那么大家知道“元宵节”用英语怎么说吗？
Lantern Festival
Lantern 是"灯笼"的意思，元宵节有灯展，猜灯谜，老外根据这一特色，称元宵节为
“灯笼节”，Lantern Festival，
也可以说：Chinese Lantern Festival
The Lantern Festival is a Chinese festival celebrated on the fifteenth day of the first month in the lunisolar year in the lunar calendar marking the last day of the lunar New Year celebration.
元宵节是中国的传统节日。每年的阴历一月十五日是元宵节，阳历则在二月或三月，它也是阴历新年庆祝活动的最后一天。
lunar 美 ['lunɚ] 农历
lunisolar 美 [,lʊnɪ'solɚ] 日与月的；由于日月的引力的
calendar美 ['kæləndɚ] 日历
lunar calendar 阴历
元宵节又称上元节、小正月、元夕或灯节，是春节之后的第一个重要节日。这个节日的由来也是很有历史渊源呢。
相传汉文帝为庆祝周勃于正月十五勘平诸吕之乱，每逢此夜，必出宫游玩，与民同乐，在古代，夜同宵，正月又称元月，汉文帝就将正月十五定为元宵节。
元宵、汤圆用英语怎么说？
咱们吃的“元宵”直接读作 Yuanxiao，而汤圆的英文就是 Tangyuan，可以说是非常简单直白了。
另外还有一种复杂一点的表达：
汤圆在英语里也用 dumplings 表示，饺子、包子，汤圆等外面有皮包着，里面有馅儿的中式点心都能统称 dumplings。
元宵/汤圆：
rice dumplings
rice balls
sweet dumplings
dumpling balls
Tangyuan is a Chinese dessert made from glutinous rice flour mixed with a small amount of water to form balls，which is filled with fillings. And then cooked and served in boiling water or sweet syrup.
汤圆是一种中国甜点，将糯米粉与少量水搓成球，放上馅儿然后在沸水或甜糖浆中煮食。
Eating Yuanxiao
吃元宵
People will eat yuanxiao, or rice dumplings, on the Lantern Festival, so it is aslo called the “Yuanxiao Festival”, Yuanxiao also has another name, tangyuan. It is small dumpling balls made of glutionous rice with rose petals, sesame, bean paste, walnut meat, dried fruit, sugar and edible oil as filling. Tangyuan can be boiled, fried or steamed. It tastes sweet and has the meaning of reunion. So people eat them to denote union, harmony and happiness for the family.
民间过元宵节都会吃元宵。元宵由糯米制成，或实心，或带馅，馅有豆沙、白糖、山楂、各类果料等。食用时煮、炸、蒸皆可。起初，人们把这种食物叫作“浮圆子”，后来又叫汤团或汤圆，这些名称与“团圆”字音相近，取团圆之意，象征全家人团团圆圆和睦幸福。
Guessing lantern riddles
猜灯谜
"Guessing lantern riddles"is an essential part of the Festival. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answer. If they are right, they will get a little gift. The activity emerged during people's enjoyment of lanterns in the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
猜灯谜也是元宵节活动的一个基本组成部分。灯笼的所有者将谜语写在一张纸条上，然后将纸条展示在灯笼上。如果赏灯者猜出谜语，就将纸条取出，然后找灯笼所有者确认答案。答对的话，可以领取一份小礼品。这个活动起源于宋朝(960—1279)。
Watch fireworks 看烟火
a dragon lantern dance 耍龙灯
lion / dragon lantern dancing 舞龙/舞狮
land boat dancing 划旱船
yangko/yangge dance 扭秧歌
walking on stilts 踩高跷
exhibit of lanterns 灯会
play couplets game 对对联
最后试译君出一个灯谜，欢迎小伙伴们积极留言答案哦～
猜灯谜：Which letter is an animal? 哪个字母是一个动物？