Chinese New Year does not end at the new moon. It ends fifteen days later on the first full moon of the year, with lanterns.

That fortnight is the holiday, and the full moon is its closing ceremony — riddles written on lanterns, sweet glutinous rice balls, and traditionally the one night unmarried women were allowed out after dark, which is why it is sometimes called the Chinese Valentine's. A festival that starts on a dark moon and finishes on a full one is using the whole first half of the cycle as a structure.