In Zhuanghe’s fishing villages, the grandest folk event of the New Year is not the first day but the thirteenth, when families launch exquisitely made sea lanterns into the darkening sea to pray for safety and a good catch. Old hands build lanterns of straw and coloured paper — boat-shaped or palace-lantern style, some over a metre tall — with fish, dragons and auspicious patterns painted on. As the first lantern takes to the water, firecrackers and drums rise; people fold their hands and make silent wishes. The drifting lights, mirroring the stars, have blessed a century of fishing families — and now draw visitors to the harbour every year.