Longdu, walking the lanterns
Longdu in Chenghai, Shantou, from the sixth of the first month: for over a month there is a community day almost every day — pigs and geese killed for guests in the daytime, lanterns carried round the village after dark. Not one village on one night, but each village in turn, so “the Longdu lantern procession” is a string of days rather than a day. No entry in the heritage lists.
1. A string of days, not one day
From the sixth of the first month the villages of Longdu take their community days in turn, over a month and more. This village tonight, that one tomorrow night, the days set by each village itself.
To see one, ask first which village — the phrase “Longdu lantern procession” does not point at any single day.
| Year | Start, lunar | Gregorian |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | from the 6th of the 1st month | from 11 February 2027, Thursday |
| 2028 | from the 6th of the 1st month | from 31 January 2028, Monday |
| 2029 | from the 6th of the 1st month | from 18 February 2029, Sunday |
| 2030 | from the 6th of the 1st month | from 8 February 2030, Friday |
| 2031 | from the 6th of the 1st month | from 28 January 2031, Tuesday |
The table converts the opening day only. Which night belongs to which village is not settled, so it cannot be laid out year by year, and no arrangement for 2027 or later has been seen.
2. Guests by day, lanterns by night
On its day the village kills pigs, chickens, geese and ducks and lays out tables for guests; villagers working away mostly come back for it. The lanterns go out only once the sun is down: a thousand lights leave the village, men, women and children carrying paper lanterns with a candle inside, through the lanes and round the fields, one circuit of the village.
The lanterns are paper with a candle in them, not electric, and that settles two things: you walk slowly, since in a windy year they go out; and no flash photography, which can set the paper alight.
3. Why Longdu
Longdu is in the north of Chenghai, on the lower Han river, its villages close together and many of them with relatives abroad. A community day here is not only for the gods but the day each household gives a dinner — a married daughter, a son working elsewhere, both come back on it.
The lists: no heritage entry found. That means no matching list entry was found, not that the event does not exist.
Getting there: the nearest station is Shantou, for the villages of Longdu in Chenghai; the villages differ and so do the routes, and since the circuit is at night, settle the way back first. 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 file walks round the village with lanterns, through village roads and fields; the report gives no fixed viewing area and no cordon.
An editorial note. Follow for a stretch and no more — the field dykes are narrow and the way is hard to see at night; bring a torch but do not shine it in people’s faces; wear flat shoes. 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| “Spring Festival of the bingwu year: the liveliest customs in Shantou” | Shantou Ganlan net (Shantou Media Group) | 13 February 2026 | that from the sixth of the first month there is a community day almost daily for a month; lanterns round the village at night; pigs, chickens, geese and ducks killed; villagers home from away; a thousand lanterns through the lanes and round the fields |
There is one source that can be opened. The dates and routes of individual villages are not given by the report and were not collected here either.
6. What comes next
In lunar order it opens with the Yangmei torch festival on the sixth. Other lantern customs in Shantou are Nansha, walking the lanterns on the nineteenth and the Outing lantern head in the second month, once in ten years.
Elsewhere on the site: Chaozhou lanterns, the ritual year, Shantou routes.
Back to the Chaoshan procession calendar for all twenty-three sessions.
Home › Customs › The procession calendar › Longdu, walking the lanterns
Last revised: 4 November 2026