Chinese Hot Air Lanterns

Last week I got the chance to fly my first hot air lantern. We lit ours right inside the college campus and the first one just missed the top floor of one dormitory. These things are so simple but so cool. They only cost 12 Yuan or you could even make them yourselves. I plan to bring several to the US in the summer and fly them on 4th of July and otherwise with whoever may be interested. Though I am sure it's illegal to fly these in the US since it is in essence a flying flaming paper bag and when the parafin fuel runs out it does tend to crash down. And I am sure there will be some UFO sightings reported on the news the next day.
The West thinks it invented the hot air balloon in 1783 in France, but Kongming invented these during the Three Kingdoms Period somewhere between 220-280 AD, and the Chinese were using these for sending messages during battles, sort of a an early version of a slow flare. It's a pretty simple process, when you light the candle or oil, the air in the lantern is heated, so the lantern will fly to the sky. After the candle or oil burns out, the lantern will slowly cool down and descend on the ground. You are supposed to make a wish on it and watch it all the way until the light goes out, which is usually about 10 minutes. Some people also will write their wish on the lantern itself. All in all, it just looks very cool.