Red lantern

It is said that Nian is a monster that lives deep in the sea. Upon the Eve of the Spring Festival, it crawls onto the beach, eating livestock and men. Thus tradition has it that every family must set off firecrackers, put on red lanterns, stick door guardians' portraits with couplets on the front door, apply red papercuts on windows and do a lot of other things to drive the monster away.
Legends never say if the monster still comes out after being frightened for so many Spring Festivals. Today, in big cities across the country, Spring Festival is little more than an occasion of family reunion and a week-long holiday. Few people still write or put on couplets. Red lanterns are also neglected in common families. They are popular only at public places. Besides the Spring Festival, other festive occasions also give ample reason for units to put on a pair of red lanterns on both sides of the door.
Zhang Yimou directed the film Red Lantern about a feudal family where four wives vied for the master's favor. When the master decided to spend the night at a wife's room, her courtyard would have a pair of red lanterns. In the winter of 2004, many red lanterns were put outside the city council of Paris, as the Year of China was celebrated in France.