Sky Lantern/Kongming Lantern--Introduction

Sky lanterns (sky candles) (simplified Chinese: 天灯; traditional Chinese: 天燈; pinyin: tiān dēng or simplified Chinese: 孔明灯; traditional Chinese: 孔明燈; pinyin: kǒngmíng dēng) are airborne paper lanterns traditionally found in East Asian cultures. They are constructed from oiled rice paper on a bamboo frame, and contain a small candle or fuel cell composed of a waxy flammable material. When lit, the flame heats the air inside the lantern, thus lowering its density causing the lantern to rise into the air. The Sky Lantern is only airborne for as long as the flame stays alight, after which the lantern floats back to the ground. They can achieve quite a height and launching them in strong winds is not recommended.

Later non-military applications were employed as they became popular with children at carnivals. These lanterns were subsequently incorporated into festivals like the Chinese Mid-Autumn and Lantern Festivals.

It's not hard to light one:


And then you can send all of your best wishes to the sky. Just imagine how marvellous it will be when the sky is painted with so many lights...