Skip to content

元宵

yuán xiāo
个 gè 碗 wǎn
HSK 3.0 Level 6 Noun

Definitions

  1. 1. Lantern Festival
  2. 2. night of the 15th of the first lunar month
  3. 3. see also 元夜yuán yè
  4. 4. sticky rice dumplings

Stop forgetting what you study. Build recall daily.

Try HanyuGuide's Chinese review system with multiple choice, typed recall, tone-aware practice, and reviews scheduled before memory fades.

Get Yearly · $49.99 / year

Sign up with Google
Continue with Email

By continuing, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Try a practice session

Word relationships

Related words

1 item
汤圆
tāng yuán

boiled or deep-fried balls of glutinous rice flour, usually eaten during Lantern Festival

Sweet rice dumplings eaten during Lantern Festival, though 元宵 can refer to both the festival and the dumplings, while 汤圆 specifically denotes the food.

Synonyms

1 item
元夜
yuán yè

Lantern Festival

Both mean the night of the Lantern Festival; 元夜 is a more classical term.

Usage notes

Common mistakes

When ordering sweet dumplings, 汤圆 is preferred in southern China, while 元宵 is used in the north; they differ in preparation and texture.

Cultural notes

The Lantern Festival marks the end of Chinese New Year celebrations; eating 元宵 (glutinous rice balls) and watching lanterns are key traditions.

Example Sentences

4 shown
元宵 节人们会吃 元宵 。
People eat glutinous rice balls during the Lantern Festival.
元宵 節要吃 元宵 。
Source: Tatoeba.org (ID 5854683)
元宵 節要猜燈謎。
Source: Tatoeba.org (ID 5854684)
元宵 節要賞花燈。
Source: Tatoeba.org (ID 5854686)

Sentence data courtesy of Tatoeba.org. AI-generated examples are marked with this icon.

Words Containing 元宵

元宵节
yuán xiāo jié

Lantern Festival, the final event of the Spring Festival 春節|春节, on 15th of first month of the lunar calendar

Child Words of 元宵

元
yuán

currency unit (esp. Chinese yuan)

宵
xiāo

night