The DH lights a lantern on the beach in Koh Samui, Thailand
The first time I saw a paper lantern fill with hot air and gently float away, I was in awe. Not only in awe of how it worked, but how peaceful they seemed, moving along with the wind, eventually fading into the night. That was at Maenam Beach on Koh Samui, where we spent every evening sitting outside at the Chill Out Café watching various airplanes approaching the Koh Samui airport and the lanterns floating up and away from the nearby beaches. I briefly wondered what happened when the candle inside burned out. Was the island interior and ocean floor littered with the round wire/bamboo structures that held the candle and paper in place?
I didn’t realize at the time that the lanterns originated in China. I had never seen them there. (Later I would find them being launched during Linyi’s Lantern Festival.) They might have originated in China, but you won’t be able to find them there anymore. The Telegraph reports that they have been banned after their release during this year’s Lantern Festival delayed 61 flights on the island of Hainan. As the article also states, fireworks are supposedly illegal in many places, too, but you still hear them nearly nonstop. It seems that the lanterns have already been banned in some cities due to the fire hazard, and I can see their point. Still, if you have ever seen photos of the Thai festival of Loy Kratong and thousands of lanterns filling the night sky, you’d mourn a ban of these beauties anywhere. Just do a google image search for “lantern Thailand” or “Loy Kratong” and be amazed by the beauty.
I’ll be checking next year to see if the lanterns make an appearance in China or not.
A lantern floats away. People’s Park, Linyi, China
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It sounds like a wonderful sight, sitting on a beach with lanterns everywhere just relaxing.
We were in Chiang Mai for the lantern festival and were blown away by the sky balloons…so magical, mesmerizing,….like luminscent jellyfish filling the sky. I’ll never forget that experience.
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