Dachanglong, the lantern greeting
Two nights, the fourteenth and fifteenth of the first month, at Dachanglong in Junbu, Puning: the men of the village carry T-shaped frames with a lantern hung on each side, lettered “a thousand sons, ten thousand grandsons” and “five generations under one roof”, gather from every lane before the Cui Huan hall and walk a circle round the ground. Ten thousand lanterns join into a moving dragon of fire. This is the lantern greeting of a great single-surname village, every household surnamed Chen, entered in the sixth batch of Jieyang’s municipal heritage in 2020.
Four photographs of the 2025 lantern greeting on the fifteenth night, from posts by the Douyin photographer @黎明摄影; not authorised, used only to introduce this session, and withdrawn if the author asks.
1. Two nights, not one
The fourteenth and the fifteenth, two nights running. Posts from the ground on social media say it begins at half past six and runs to the small hours, and that the fifteenth is the larger of the two. The formal reporting says only “after nightfall” and gives no starting or closing time.
| Year | Lunar date | Gregorian |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | 14th and 15th of the 1st month | 19 February, Friday; 20 February, Saturday |
| 2028 | 14th and 15th of the 1st month | 8 February, Tuesday; 9 February, Wednesday |
| 2029 | 14th and 15th of the 1st month | 26 February, Monday; 27 February, Tuesday |
| 2030 | 14th and 15th of the 1st month | 16 February, Saturday; 17 February, Sunday |
| 2031 | 14th and 15th of the 1st month | 5 February, Wednesday; 6 February, Thursday |
The Gregorian column is a calendar conversion and does not mean it will be held that way; no announcement for 2027 or later has been seen.
2. How the lanterns are carried
Not carried by hand but held up on a frame. A T-shaped wooden frame has a lantern hanging at each end of the crossbar and is walked along by one man. The lanterns are lettered, most often with “a thousand sons, ten thousand grandsons” and “five generations under one roof”, sometimes with nothing but the surname Chen.
The carriers are men. The files come out of the lanes and gather before the lineage hall, then walk circles round the ground with gongs and drums going the whole time. From above it is a dragon of light moving between the houses — the image the reports keep returning to, and the plainest way to say what it looks like.
Before the hall there is also the shaking of the god: the palanquin tossed up and down in the crowd with fireworks opening overhead. The lantern greeting and ying lao ye are two things of the same night here.
3. Why this village
Dachanglong is a rarity in Chaoshan, a great village of one surname: close to 700 years of history, 45,000 people in over 8,000 households, every one of them surnamed Chen, one lineage and one clan. Only at that size can ten thousand lanterns be carried — the scale is not organised into being, there are simply that many people.
At every lantern greeting the villagers working away and the clansmen overseas come home. In 2026 a party of thirty-eight from the Xi’an photographers’ association for the elderly came especially to see it, and the village committee said in an interview that outside visitors were far more numerous than in past years.
The lists: municipal, sixth batch, 2020, nominated by Puning city; for the hierarchy, follow the heritage lists.
Getting there: the nearest station is Puning, for Junbu town, then a car from the station; the lanes are narrow and the car stays outside the village, and both nights run into the small hours. In festival time village roads often run one way or are closed at short notice, and a navigation estimate excludes parking and the walk in; a night session often ends after nine, and the way back should be checked against the year’s timetable rather than reasoned from past experience.
4. Where to stand
Two layers: how past reporting describes it, and where this site suggests standing.
As past reporting describes it. The files come down the village lanes into the ground before the lineage hall and walk circles there; the reports carry no statement of a fixed viewing area or a cordon.
An editorial note. The lanes are narrow, so park outside and walk in; once the circle is moving the crowd pushes one way, so do not walk against it; with children, stand against a wall. These are suggestions made here from standing at such sessions, not the rules of the organisers or the police.
5. Sources
| Source | Body | Date | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Dachanglong village in Junbu, Puning, holds its lantern greeting” | Jieyang city government portal | 2026 | the two nights; the T-frames and the lettering; the ten thousand lanterns; several hundred years; the municipal sixth batch in 2020; the thirty-eight visitors from Xi’an |
| “The lantern greeting custom of Dachanglong village, Puning, at the lantern festival” | Jieyang Daily | 10 March 2026 | close to 700 years; 45,000 people; over 8,000 households; the single surname Chen; tens of thousands of lanterns |
Both are government and party-paper sources. The “starts at half past six” comes from a post on social media and is not used as evidence.
6. What comes next
In lunar order: before it, the Qiaolin firework dragon on the tenth; after it, the three mountain kings go out on the fifteenth. Also in Jieyang are the Yangmei torch festival, Xidong, leaping the fire pits and the Jieyang City God temple fair.
Elsewhere on the site: ying lao ye: its form and the village days, the heritage lists, Jieyang routes.
Back to the Chaoshan procession calendar for all twenty-three sessions.
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Last revised: 4 November 2026