The Spring Festival in the lunar calendar is the beginning of the year and the most important festival of the year. The activities of this festival actually start from the evening of the previous day - New Year's Eve. Once upon a time in Jinan, on New Year's Eve, every family "YiMenGenGen peach symbols spring stickers, spread sesame stalks all over the place, and display offerings to welcome the ancestors. It is the night of the resignation, burning firecrackers rolling people set up wine to observe the New Year." ("Richeng County, rural survey book - customs") Some of these customs, has been inherited to this day. When the night falls, each family's dinner table is set with a sumptuous meal, the whole family sits together, and happy to eat a reunion dinner. Before the meal, they burn paper on the street to welcome their ancestors back home and offer them to the table of offerings on which they are written. On the wall behind the table, there is also a large painting of the ancestors, "Jatang Jizi", which is a picture of the ancestors. After eating the "New Year's Eve dinner", let off the firecrackers to welcome the spring, a family of young and old around the fireplace, high melon seeds, chatting, sleepless all night, this is called the "New Year's Eve". To the "year five more" the old and new years of the alternating moments, and then eat "new year's dumplings". The dumplings are usually filled with veggie filling, which is meant to bring in the New Year in a quiet and peaceful manner. After eating the New Year's Eve dumplings, the new year comes, and the younger generation begins to kowtow to the elders, who distribute the "New Year's Eve money" to the children, happily accepting the blessings of the younger generation. Early in the morning on the first day of the Lunar New Year, the New Year's greeting begins. The children wear new clothes that have just been changed, and the adults are all neatly dressed, and go in groups to pay New Year's greetings to their colleagues, neighbors, relatives and friends. In the past, when the younger generation paid New Year's greetings to their elders, they kowtowed to the offering table and shouted, "Pay New Year's greetings to so-and-so!" "To so-and-so kowtow!" In recent years, generally no longer kowtow, acquaintances meet or clasp fists or handshake, say something "congratulations on wealth", "New Year's Eve" and other auspicious words, everywhere full of joyful atmosphere. New Year's Eve and the first day, there are many taboos. Such as New Year's Eve can not speak loudly, and can not say unlucky words; married girls can not return to her mother's home on the first day, the common belief that back to her mother's home will eat poor; New Year's Eve and the first day of broken dishes and bowls and other utensils is considered to be an ominous sign, accidentally break something, to quickly say a "peace of the year" to crack; the first day of the first day of the year, can not eat noodles, it is said that eating noodles a year of trouble, the first day of the year, the first day of the first day of the year, the first day of the first day of the year. It is said to eat the noodles a year of trouble; the first day of the year is not happy sweeping and pouring garbage, for fear of sweeping the treasure together out of the door. The second day of the year, is married to the girl back to her family's day. Daughters with "Auntie" home to pay New Year's visit, the mother's family to be hospitality. "Auntie" is called a "guest of honor" and sits at the top of the table for meals and drinks; the returning daughter accompanies her mother and sisters, whom she has not seen for a long time, to talk to them. As many large families in the past are several generations of the same family, the daughter of the return of Ning is often two or even three generations of the same hall, the family suddenly very lively. On the second day of the year, the custom of the daughter returning to her mother's home is still popular. On the third day of the new year, there was the custom of "digging moon buds". At night, when a crescent moon hanging in the cold sky, some women will bring their children to the yard, facing the crescent moon kneeling on a futon, holding a spoon with rice, the first to the moon buds dug a few times, and then in their own ribs a few times, reciting: "the third day of the first month to dig the moon buds, the wind teeth fire teeth with the wind to go, and then never again hair." It is said that such a "dig", the year will never have a toothache. On the third day of the month, according to the old custom, it is also "the day of opening wells". Early in the morning, people will be incense, vegetables and other offerings in the well platform, the New Year's Eve to seal the well of the red paper removed, began to draw water. The fifth day of the first month of the lunar calendar was called "Broken Five". On this day, every family should be wrapped dumplings, commonly known as "pinch broken five"; the whole family together to eat a reunion dinner, avoid saying unlucky words; children are burning firecrackers, called "send the New Year". On the evening of the fifth, families "send home": for the dumplings, kneeling ancestors, take down the "home shaft", and then go to the street for the ancestors to send off, which means that the New Year's Day has passed. The seventh day of the first month of the year is the Day of Man, which was known as the "Festival of Man's Success" in the Tang Dynasty, and called the "Seventh Day of Man" in Jinan folklore. It is said that the day of the people of the Lord's prosperity and personal health, people use the weather on this day to account for the weather to test the year's harvest good or bad. The Southern Dynasties, Zong Rin in the "Jing Chu chronicles" said: "the seventh day of the first month for the people day, to seven kinds of vegetables for the soup, cut color for the people, or openwork gold foil for the people to paste the screen, but also put the head of the sideburns, and make Huasheng phase left." Fifteen hundred and six hundred years ago, these "Jing Chu legacy", in Jinan, the old custom is also reflected. In the past in the "people day" this day, Jinan people have to hold celebrations or participate in recreational activities. People cut out seven human figures in five-cornered silk or paper, pasted on the screen or shadow wall; some also carved into a human figure with thin metal, worn at the temples. They also use seven kinds of vegetables to make cakes or eat "people Qi dishes" and give each other, to express congratulations. "Man Day" on this day women can not do needlework, according to legend, "Man Day to do needlework, specializing in the eye of the mother-in-law". The tenth day of the first month for the stone God's birthday, called "stone mill day", "ten children day", "stone does not move" and so on. This day is not allowed to move the stone and mill, mill, stone mortar and other stone tools, or else it will hurt the crops. This day is also taboo to open up the mountain and stone and stone cover the house, and to the stone incense worship, lunchtime offerings of pancakes custom. There are also popular places to lift the stone God's custom: the first nine nights, will be a jar frozen in a smooth stone, the first ten mornings by ten girls or young men, taking turns to carry the jar running away. If the stone never falls to the ground, it signals a good harvest in the new year; if the stone falls to the ground, it signals a bad year. The 15th day of the first month is the Lantern Festival. The Lantern Festival is also known as the Shangyuan Festival, which is also known as the Lantern Festival because lantern watching is an important activity on this day. The Lantern Festival is one of the more important traditional festivals following the Spring Festival, and is still commonly celebrated by people in both urban and rural areas. In addition to the Lantern Festival, before and after the Lantern Festival, the streets and alleys of Jinan are filled with stilt walkers, dry-boat runners, dragon lantern dancers, and lion jugglers. These activities reach a climax on the night of the Lantern Festival. Various performance team, the stilt team's lineup is the most spectacular: before the team is a tall paper door lamp, written on the stilt team's name; before the door lamp is the hand picking red lantern leader, behind the drums and gongs, and then behind the two people on a pair of forked flower string stilt team. The team members step on the 1-meter-high wooden stick, respectively, dressed as the opera Wu Sung, Lin Chong, the Monkey King, Piggy, dirty officials, ugly women and so on. Along with the rhythmic gongs and drums, they show off their skills, doing all kinds of comical performances and difficult actions, sometimes making the audience laugh and sometimes stirring up a burst of applause. In the past, Jinan was most famous for its stilt teams in Dongshefang, Majiazhuang, and Xichenglong.