Lanterns for the dead  

桂北中元节奇特风俗：万盏河灯耀资江

　 一盏河灯，一份祝福。8月30日晚，广西桂林市资源县资江河畔人涌如潮，当地汉、苗、瑶等各族同胞及中外游客数万人将形式各样、新颖别致的河灯放入资江，任其顺流而下，丹霞山下再现“万盏河灯耀资江”壮观场面。

Guilin (CNS) – Thousands of lanterns were set adrift Thursday night on the Zijiang River in southwest China.

The action was part of the 18th Lantern Offering Festival in Guilin, a city in the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region.

First held in 1995, the festival originates from a local custom to honor the dead. As part of a busy commercial waterway, the Zijiang River witnessed numerous accidents during the Qing Dynasty, and lanterns were once set adrift to memorialize those who had died there.

Singing is also traditionally featured at the festival. Ethnic singers from Guangxi and other provinces, including the Yao and Miao minorities, gathered to perform original folk songs.

Thursday was the 14th day of the 7th month on the lunar calendar, the eve of Ghost Festival, an eastern version of Halloween celebrated in many regions.