Thinking of heading out to see the Chinese-New-Year lights and lanterns at Confucius Temple or Laomendong? Advance reservations are now necessary, as authorities attempt to keep both numbers and COVID at bay.
It’s been a crazy time of year since time immortal, as crowds make their pilgrimage to witness the Qinhuai Lantern Festival at Confucius Temple in Nanjing with the coming of the full moon that occurs 2 weeks after Chinese New Year.
In the tradition that everyone should experience, if only the once, the throng is carried along, armpit to armpit, trapped in what locals call, “People Mountain, People Sea”.
In more recent years, the Laomendong Neighbourhood has joined the party, with its own display of lights and, for the Year of the Rabbit, a brightly-illuminated bunny almost as high as the Nanjing City Wall in front of which it sits.
But the numbers of visitors expected to both Laomendong and Fuzimiao for Lantern Festival has authorities concerned. As a result, online reservations are now required for this, the peak time of the year for both attractions.
The required e-ticket can be sourced via the two QR codes below. That for Confucius Temple via WeChat (left) requires registration using a Chinese ID number. With the system accepting digits only, holders of a Foreign Permanent Resident ID card cannot sadly join in the fun. In additional, would-be ticket holders need to select a specific time slot for their visit.
There is better news though over on Alipay, provider of e-tickets for entry to Laomendong. The system extracts identity information from the user’s Alipay account and quickly presents a ticket. All the user need do is select the day on which they wish to visit and how many people shall be in their party.
Readers should note that e-tickets are required for not only the inner sanctums of Confucius Temple and Laomendong, but also some of their environs, as the Yangtze Evening News reports. It is also advised to obtain the ticket(s) well in advance; waiting until arriving at the scenic spot’s entrance will likely result in disappointment.
The effort should all be worth it, however. Whilst taking in the lights and lanterns, make sure to sample some Tangyuan (汤圆). The round shape of the glutinous-rice ball is believed to symbolise family togetherness.
Visitors to either Laomendong or Confucius Temple at this time of year might need all the luck they can get. With the crowds milling about, keeping the family together could prove to be the biggest challenge of all.