THE BEAUTIFUL TRADITION of flying lanterns has been revived in China. To avoid pollution and fire hazards, the lanterns contain LED “candles” and are tied to the users. This 27 Dec 2025 video (below) is from Gexian Village in Jiangxi province, home of a mountain immortal from the Taoist faith.
China developed the first hot air balloons 23 centuries ago, according to British history of science expert Joseph Needham.
Tradition says the first use of a balloon for signalling was by sage Zhuge Liang (born AD 181) to summon help when his people were surrounded by enemies.
Balloons arrived in the western world in 1241. The Mongol army adopted the Chinese hot-air balloon as a tool of war and used them during their invasion of Poland that year.
Since then, “sky lanterns” have spread to multiple countries. They are featured in regular festivals in Bangladesh, India, Japan, Portugal, Brazil, Taiwan and Thailand. Each nation has added its own traditions to them.
However, they have been banned in many countries, because the original design – which included live flames and no tethers – meant they could be dangerous.
Image at the top from Wikimedia Commons.
Video from unknown source.