The Spring Festival is coming. Among various colorful festivals of the Chinese people, the Spring Festival is the most important. This year it falls on February 14, and New Year's Eve is when many families gather for their annual reunion banquet.

Jiading people are busy cleaning their houses and making special purchases for the Spring Festival before the 23rd of the 12th lunar month. On that special day (February 6) many Chinese people will honor the kitchen god. Jiading people have their own festival customs, which have developed over time. This issue of Jiading News includes a series of articles on local customs for the Spring Festival and introduces to readers the new trends of celebrating among Chinese and foreign people. Time to make sweets to honor the kitchen god Staff Reporters

Spring Festival is the grandest festival of the year in China and in the old days Jiading families would have a ceremony on the 23rd day of the 12th month of the lunar calendar, which is commonly called "song zao" (seeing off the kitchen god back to the Celestial Kingdom).

On that day, food is laid out on the stove as a sacrifice offered to Zao Shen, who is also called "Father of Kichen" by Jiading people. It is said that when Jiang Ziya helped King Wu of Zhou conquer the Shang Dynasty (c.16th century - 11th century BC), all meritorious generals were granted god titles, but many solders were not rewarded and thus made trouble.

Jiang Ziya then granted them the title of "Zao Shen," thereby preventing the troubles and ordering them to manage the kitchens of every household.

On this day, all households in Jiading will brush off the dust and wipe away the dirt, and offer sacrifices to "Zao Shen," including glutinous rice, fruit, candy and sweet fermented-rice, to make him happy.

Candy is meant to be pasted on his mouth and sweet fermented-rice will make him drunk so that he will gossip less in the Celestial Kingdom.

Before New Year's Eve, people will clean their homes well, make dumplings, and steamed cake, place holly twigs, cypress twigs and sesame on the eaves (wishing for a better life during the coming year), and pile up dry wood, peeled flax stalk and bean shells in the courtyard for burning (wishing for a streak of luck).

They also traditionally drew patterns of a rice warehouse, bow, sword or shoe-shaped gold ingot with lime in the courtyard, praying for a good harvest and rich life in the coming year.

As a tradition in Jiangnan (south of the Changjiang River), people don't sweep the floor on the Lunar New Year's Day.

They believe the good luck may thus be swept away. This tradition is still maintained in many places where people clean up their homes on New Year's Eve and never touch the broom on the New Year's Day.

Another tradition on New Year's Day is an odd one - never pour soup into the rice and don't have porridge, otherwise people believe they might be caught in frequent rainstorms on trips far from home.

As water means fortune and fire means flourishing, so you cannot ask others for fire or water.

And to have a peaceful year, it would be better for you not to touch knives or scissors on that day.

On the morning of New Year's Day, children find "lucky money" in the pocket of their new clothes, which is given by their parents.

This tradition has been passed on from generation to generation. Taste of heaven Xu Zhenbao and Wang Jie

When I was a child, my old grandma and neighbors cooked a special porridge with eight vegetables and fruits including rice, beans, red dates and water chestnuts on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month. This was called "Laba porridge."

It is said that this custom was introduced by Buddhists because Sakyamuni, the founder of Buddhism, became a Buddha on the 8th day of the 12th lunar month.

To celebrate his attainment of enlightenment, temples in various localities held scripture-reading ceremonies and cooked porridge to serve the Buddha, imitating the herdswoman who offered him "milky gruel" before he attained enlightenment.

Later, this act of serving the Buddha became popular during the Song Dynasty (960-1279). During the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the Yongzheng Emperor assigned people to cook "Laba porridge" in the "Harmony Palace - a lama temple" in Beijing, and gave it to various princes, dukes and ministers to taste.

In ancient times, the 12th lunar month was the best time to hunt. Therefore, the Chinese character for "twelfth" and the character for "hunt" were used interchangeably.

According to "Solitary Decisions" by Cai Yong of the Han Dynasty (206BC-220AD), people's act of offering hunted animals as sacrifices in that month was a "large-scale year-end sacrifice."

According to "Jingchu Chronicle" of the Southern Dynasties (420-589), this sacrifice was held on a fixed date, the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, hence the name Laba Festival.

What are the customs of the Laba Festival?

Mainly it's a time to celebrate after a year of hard work, and perhaps a time to sing folk songs and remember traditions.

And it's definitely a time to taste that delicious Laba porridge, filled with yummy sweet treats of red dates, water chestnuts, beans and dried fruits. It's soothing winter porridge to celebrate the traditions behind an ancient festival. Dishes of fortune Wang Zhuocheng and Wang Jie

Chinese people have the custom of holding a family dinner on lunar New Year's Eve. Some have the dinner at home, others at restaurants. But there are some hidden meanings behind the traditional dishes served.

Today, the lunar New Year's Eve dinner consists of several courses, such as cold dishes, fried dishes and dessert. Each has an auspicious meaning, so fish is often served to give thanks for an ample harvest each year, because the word fish in Chinese has a partial tone indicating surplus.

Soybean sprouts symbolize success, because they have two petals in the shape of a ruyi, a curved ceremonial scepter symbolizing good fortune.

The meatballs on the table reflect the wish for reunion while the egg dumpling mean grand fortune because it is yellow in color and like yuanbao (shoe-shaped gold) in shape. Some Jiading residents pray for a sweet life with a sweet rice dessert and a boiling hotpot. The story behind sticky rice cakes Gu Jirong and Wang Jie

"Niangao" in Chinese is a glutinous rice cake. "Nian" means year while "Gao" means high. So the name implies getting better year by year.

Just like people in other areas of China, people in Jiading also like to eat sweet glutinous rice cake at the Spring Festival. On the first day of the first lunar month, every family will eat rice cake and stuffed rice dumplings in the morning, with the connotation of good luck and family reunion.

When I was young, as the 12th lunar month came, people in the family would dip glutinous rice in water. As the Spring Festival was drawing near, the rice mill would get especially busy, and my parents asked our brothers to go to the mill waiting for the rice to be milled because they were busy in the fields.

Sometimes, we went to queue early in the morning, and came back with rice powder late in the evening. Yet we were quite pleased despite the cold and hunger, as we knew that we could have the sweet and glutinous cake in a few days' time.

Different cakes could indicate the economic conditions of different families. Those with relatively poor conditions would make cake only with brown sugar, while wealthy families would use white sugar and decorate the cake with some sweet-scented osmanthus, dates, red and green slices of pepper, walnuts or candied fruit. Man's birthday Zhen Bao and Wang Jie

According to "Questions and Answers on Rites and Customs" written in the Jin Dynasty (AD 265-420), the first seven days of the 1st lunar month are the birthdays of hens, dogs, pigs, sheep, oxen, horses and human beings. It is said that after mending the sky, N?wa made an animal every day from the 1st day to the 6th day of the 1st lunar month and made man on the 7th day, known as the Day of Man. To celebrate their birthday, the custom grew of people wearing decorations such as cut paper designs, silk, gold or silver foil used as hair decorations or stuck to screens and windows. A colorful history Chen Zhaoxiong and Wang Jie

January 1 is called yuan dan in China now, however, the poems in the past about yuan dan, yuan ri, sui dan and sui zhao, which all meant the first day of the year, were all about the Spring Festival. Hundreds of years ago, yuan dan referred to the first day of the first lunar month.

Ma Yu from Loutang in Jiading from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) wrote in a poem "mud ox was whipped yesterday, and we have a sunny yuan dan today," describing the Spring Festival in 1464. There was a custom in ancient times of people making an ox out of mud, and whipping it with willow branches, to urge the ox to plough the land.

Although the custom has vanished, the Spring Festival is still a time to honor the traditions with foods such as mushrooms, dates and longan.

In China, there are special markets for festival goods everywhere, and in Jiading the market is at the area of Zhouqiao and Huguo Temple at Ximen (the West Gate).

Being busy all year round, the Chinese people treat the festival as a time for recreation, going to the theater, setting off fireworks, flying kites, visiting relatives and friends, until the 15th day or the 18th day of the first lunar month.

In some villages, people will not come back to work until the last day of the first lunar month. In contrast, shops in towns open early on the fifth day of the first lunar month with a ceremony welcoming the god of fortune. Dumplings and soup Tao Jiming and Wang Jie

The Lantern Festival, also known as the "Shangyuan Festival," comes on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month. In the past, it was the last day of the Spring Festival celebration.

On that day, Jiading's urban and rural areas bustle with abundant activities. The main activities are eating sweet dumplings, crossing three bridges and visiting lantern shows.

Actually, apart from sweet dumplings, people also eat many other foods, such as wontons, meatballs and the thick soup of the Spring Festival, symbolizing family reunion and harmony.

Wontons and meatballs are usually stuffed with shepherd's purse and ground meat. At this time of year, the vegetable shepherd's purse has just come into season and is both fresh and delicious. The sweet stuffing of dumpling is usually a combination of red beans, sesame, red dates, sweet potatoes and sugar.

It is said that the thick soup of the Spring Festival was invented by Tang Shisheng, one of the "Four Jiading Gentlemen" of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). One year his students visited him on the Sweet Dumpling Festival, but there was no wine or dishes at home. Mrs Tang suddenly had an idea.

She put the leftover red dates, water chestnuts, dried bean curd and deep-fried twisted dough sticks into a caldron, added shepherd's purse, small balls, noodles and leftover rice, and cooked a pot of mixed vegetable porridge. Having tasted it, the students all said it was delicious.

On the evening of the festival, also known as the Lantern Festival, Jiading women would talk and laugh in small groups to look at lanterns while "crossing three bridges," said to cure all diseases and ease misfortune. Create your own new holiday treats Yang Xiaoji and Wang Jie

I liked Spring Festival very much when I was a child, and even today, I can't help laughing out loud when recalling the joy and excitement of taking "New Year's Lucky Money" at that time. But now, as I have grown up and earn money by myself, I should also advance with the times in spending the Spring Festival.

"Buy fresh flowers and give green gifts in Spring Festival," urged an advertisement that accidentally caught my eyes on the Internet. On the eve of the Spring Festival, I received over a dozen flower pots ordered on the Internet, such as cyclamen, orchids, azaleas and lucky bamboo, and spent the whole afternoon carefully decorating the living room.

With beautiful flowers and perfume in the room, we had our New Year's Eve dinner in a romantic and warm atmosphere. After dinner, I gave these flower pots for happiness and good luck to our friends and relatives, together with the good blessing carried by these vigorous plants.

A friend of mine on the Internet proposed to have a karaoke night during Spring Festival. This idea enlightened me, as my father often likes to hum a tune to himself, so I booked a KTV room. My parents finally agreed to go with me. We talked and laughed while singing, and I felt my parents got much younger as the evening progressed.

Before we had realized, there were only three days left for the holidays. Attracted by the descriptions of unique scenes in the West Lake in Hangzhou with "Melting Snow at Broken Bridge," I suddenly wanted to have a look at the lake in winter.

I made an appointment with some friends, logged on the Internet to consult for routes and schedules, booked hotels and tickets, and started our trip delightfully.

Although there was no snow in such a warm winter, the festival atmosphere had brought more charms to the West Lake as we saw it. A tour in the Spring Festival added more surprise during the relaxed holidays. Korean memories Guan Wenfei and Wang Jie

Park Buyng Eun, a Korean young man who has lived and studied in Jiading for over seven years, also attaches great importance to the Spring Festival.

He said that in Korea, people spend Spring Festival mostly at home, and the most important activity is to offer sacrifices to ancestors.

This follows strict procedures. For example, there are many rules for presenting food on the altar, such as "fish to east and meat to west," "head to east and tail to west," "red to east and white to west," "date, chestnut, pear and persimmon," "raw food to east and cooked food to west," and "rice to left and soup to right."

According to Park, what is most attractive about the Spring Festival is still the New Year's Eve Dinner. With a steaming Korean hotpot in the middle of the table, the family and relatives sit around, talking about their life and work during the year, and enjoying various foods.

Of course, kimchi (pickled cabbages) is the indispensable dish. Unlike China where restaurants are busy serving New Year's Eve Dinner, most restaurants in Korea close for the festival, so housewives can make many different types of superb cuisines and delicious food with their deft hands.

Before and after the dinner, people like playing "Unnori." Four wooden chips with different patterns are tossed in turns, (like a dice game,) to decide the moves you take for your chess pieces.

The greatest difference in Korea is that there are no fireworks, as they prefer a tranquil and joyful family atmosphere.