Nansha, walking the lanterns
The nineteenth night of the first month, at Nansha in Xinan, Chenghai, Shantou: the village walks its lanterns, one night only, round the village and back.
1. The three things that are settled
The day: the nineteenth night of the first month. The place: Nansha, Xinan, Chenghai, Shantou. The name: ying deng, walking the lanterns.
Ying, in Teochew, is to go round, to tour the boundaries; ying deng is to carry lanterns round the village. Longdu and Outing, also in Chenghai, keep lantern customs too, but not done the same way, and another village’s scene should not be put on Nansha’s back.
| Year | Lunar date | Gregorian |
|---|---|---|
| 2027 | 19th of the 1st month | 24 February 2027, Wednesday |
| 2028 | 19th of the 1st month | 13 February 2028, Sunday |
| 2029 | 19th of the 1st month | 3 March 2029, Saturday |
| 2030 | 19th of the 1st month | 21 February 2030, Thursday |
| 2031 | 19th of the 1st month | 10 February 2031, Monday |
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. Another village’s practice does not carry over
The accounts of Nansha reach only the day, the place and the name. How the file is ordered and how the lanterns are made differ from village to village and from year to year, and what the next village does cannot be assumed here.
Getting there: the nearest station is Shantou, for Nansha in Xinan, Chenghai. There is one night session only, so watch the last trains. 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.
3. Where to stand, in general and not by this session’s rules
Three points only, and they follow from the kind of ground this is: the village lanes are narrow, so leave the car outside; do not cross in front of the lantern file as it passes; with children, stand against a wall. These are suggestions made here from standing at lantern customs of the same kind, not the rules of this session’s organisers, and they do not mean Nansha is necessarily like this.
4. Sources
| Source | Body | Date | What it establishes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local reporting and accounts of custom | no institution found | none found | the day and the name only |
This entry rests on a second-hand account; there is no original that can be opened.
5. What comes next
In lunar order: before it, the Guanshan pig contest on the seventeenth and eighteenth; after it, Yanzao, dragging the god on the twenty-first and twenty-second. Other lantern customs in Shantou are Longdu, walking the lanterns and the Outing lantern head.
Elsewhere on the site: Chaozhou lanterns, ying lao ye: its form and the village days, Shantou routes.
Back to the Chaoshan procession calendar for all twenty-three sessions.
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Last revised: 4 November 2026