The photo taken on Feb 13, 2014, shows two foreign students eating yuanxiao in Harbin, capital of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province. [Source: harbin.gov.cn]

According to the lunar calendar, Lantern Festival falls on February 14 this year. Celebrations vary from place to place, but eating yuanxiao or tangyuan, a sweetened rice dumpling, is common across the country as a tradition passed down through the generations.

The ongoing Spring Festival holiday offers a great chance for overseas students in Harbin to taste China's traditional culture. On Feb 13, a community at the Harbin Institute of Technology in Nangang district invited residents and foreign students from Russia, Ghana and other countries to celebrate Lantern Festival, by not only enjoying yuanxiao together but also guessing traditional lantern riddles. The students had fun and tried Chinese calligraphy with brushes.