Guangzhou's Spring Festival Flower Market

Guangzhou's Spring Festival Flower Market is known as the "Flower City", and its annual Spring Festival Flower Market has attracted worldwide attention. On the eve of the Spring Festival, the streets and alleys of Guangzhou are filled with flowers and potted oranges, and all major parks hold the Spring Festival Exhibition, especially three days before New Year's Eve. Colored buildings are set up on the theme streets of various districts, and flower stands are erected. Flower farmers from all over the countryside flock in succession, arrayed themselves, and sold flowers and oranges. The streets are ten miles long. The flowers are blooming and the crowds are like a tidal wave, and they only disperse until the early morning of the first day. This is unique to Guangzhou.

Guangzhou has been planting flowers for more than 111O years. As early as the Southern Han Dynasty in the Five Dynasties, there were many fragrant flower fields in Zhuangtou Village on the south bank of the Pearl River, and Ji Suxin, the pet of Liu Wei in South Hanwang, was the flower girl in Zhuangtou. Every morning, flower farmers pick flowers, cross the river at Wuxianmen Ferry and sell them at the gate of the old city, which is the usual flower market. The annual flower market was formed in the early 1961s. At that time, the flower market was in front of the Francisco department, that is, in the area of the provincial finance department now, and then moved to Shuangmendi. Besides selling flowers, it also sold antiques, miscellaneous shelves and new year's eve products.

After the Revolution of 1911, the old city was demolished, and the area in front of the vassal office was more open, with more tourists, and it also expanded to the areas of Shibafu and Gaodi Street. Besides jasmine flowers, there are daffodils, hanging bells, peony, camellia, chrysanthemum and so on. Many firms, restaurants and restaurants also order seasonal flowers. In Xiguan area, there are also flower vendors who send flowers to large families and shops. With the development of commercial economy, Flower Street has become more prosperous.

People in Guangzhou love to insert peach blossoms during the Spring Festival, and the so-called "peach blossoms in one tree are full of spring". A beautiful peach blossom is inserted in the hall, full of trees and stars, with festive lights and green silk apricot ribbons, which really adds a lot of spring scenery, so it is not only loved at home, but also decorated with a big peach blossom in major hotels and restaurants. Peach blossom has become the "Christmas tree" of the Spring Festival in Guangzhou.

kumquat symbolizes "good luck". In fact, what people like now is its small and rich shape: a small tree 31-41 cm high, fruitful and glittering, and the green branches and leaves supporting each other, which is really cute and interesting to put on several seats. Four seasons oranges, golden eggs and cinnabar oranges, which are similar to kumquat, can also play this role, so ordinary families only buy one of them. Similar to it is the fruit from generation to generation, which means that it flourishes from generation to generation: bergamot fruit, like the palm of your hand, is as elegant and solemn as a believer, and is deeply favored by good men and women.

daffodils will be inserted for the Spring Festival. At the beginning of the twelfth lunar month, there are a large number of narcissus heads shipped from Zhangzhou, Fujian Province on the market. After people buy them back, they carefully cultivate them and control the flowering period by adjusting the water temperature and sunshine. Narcissus seems to be able to understand people's feelings, and it often blooms in turn on New Year's Eve when the family has a family reunion dinner, or in the sound of firecrackers on the first day of the first month of the first month, which brings people endless fun. As the saying goes, "Flowers bloom with wealth", which happens to be a good sign. In addition, daffodils are comely, graceful and fragrant, so they are necessary for every family.

in recent years, with the development of commodity economy, many new flowers and trees have emerged as symbols of wealth and fortune. For example, the "rich tree" with green branches and leaves, the "Fuxing Flower" and "lucky strike" grafted with cactus, and even the digital numbers with marked prices are also related to getting rich. For example, a rich tree is priced at 168, which is in harmony with the "all the way" in Guangzhou dialect; A peach blossom is priced at 88 yuan, which means "hair and hair"; 38 yuan, that is, born again (Guangzhou dialect "3" and "born" sound close). The flower language in Guangzhou has occupied a considerable position in folk life.

Spring Festival custom in Chaoshan

New Year's Eve

The last day of the lunar year is called New Year's Eve, and this night is called New Year's Eve, which is called "New Year" by Chaoshan custom.

Before New Year's Eve, people are busy preparing for all kinds of new year's goods: buying chickens, geese, ducks and fish; Add new clothes; Newly purchased furniture and utensils; Buy New Year pictures, Spring Festival couplets, etc. In particular, I want to buy oranges, green olives and other fruits as a symbol of good luck and welcome friends and relatives. Before the Chinese New Year, men must have a new haircut and women must "pull their faces". Nowadays, women mostly have a haircut and beauty.

The 24th day of the twelfth lunar month is the time for the "gods" to report their work. Since that day, every household has been cleaning up, cleaning things and bills, which is called "picking up".

One or two days before New Year's Eve, every household makes all kinds of products for the Chinese New Year.

When going out on New Year's Eve, all family members have to rush home for reunion. On New Year's Eve, the whole family gathered around the stove for a reunion dinner. After dinner, adults give "lucky money" to children and their parents. In the evening, the farmer's water tank should be filled with water, the rice tank should be filled with rice, and the lights can't be put out, which symbolizes the good omen of "more than one year old" and "continuous cooking every year".

the custom of keeping watch over the New Year's Eve is very common. Waiting for the arrival of the new year, the New Year bell rings and every household rings firecrackers.

Spring Festival

The first day of the first lunar month is called Yuanri, which is the head of the new year and the beginning of spring. At the dawn of heaven, the sound of guns is heard. On the big table in every household hall, red plates are filled with good luck (that is, oranges are bigger than oranges, so they are called good luck), green olives and all kinds of exquisite sweets. Lights are decorated in front of the door, and the younger generation wishes the older generation tea. On this day, most families should be vegetarian, at least they don't eat meat for breakfast. After breakfast, adults and children take Daji to their relatives and friends' homes to pay New Year greetings, and the host and guest exchange good wishes for each other, and congratulate them on making a fortune and adding blessings. The host treats you with Daji, betel nut (the ancient custom respects betel nut, but now it is replaced by green olive), and * * * congou. The guests present Daji to congratulate the host on his good luck, and the host wants to return it with Daji, which is said to be a good wish in return.

On the first day of the first lunar month, many lion dance classes and English song teams beat gongs and drums to pay homage to the New Year in every village, and the host set off firecrackers to welcome them. There are also hand-cranked evergreen leaves (commonly known as cash cows) or hand-held books with auspicious sentences such as "lucky money into treasure" posted on people's doors; Or those who play suona, knock on bamboo boards, sing songs, make four sentences and say auspicious words to celebrate the New Year from house to house, all take advantage of asking for some money. On the second and third day of the second and third day, many cultural activities were organized in rural towns to celebrate the Spring Festival. In addition to setting up a theater shed to perform Chaozhou opera, mountain opera and shadow play, there were also big gongs and drums teams, tiger and lion teams, English song teams and dragon dance teams marching and performing in villages along the street. There are also movies, ball games, calligraphy and painting exhibitions, riddles and so on. During the day and night, people flocked to enjoy the tour and watch, and there was a lively and joyful atmosphere of Spring Festival.

having a family reunion dinner

after every household's house is completely dressed up, New Year's Eve is coming. As a result, housewives are busy preparing for the most abundant and meaningful reunion dinner in a year. The reunion dinner, as its name implies, is a family gathering for dinner during the Chinese New Year, and even the deceased ancestors will not forget it. Therefore, after making a good reunion dinner, every household must first "worship her husband" (worship ancestors). When offering sacrifices to ancestors, the incense burner representing ancestors should be removed from the shrine and placed on the altar, and then incense should be burned to pray and the ancestors should be invited to dine. Then the young and the old bow down in order, which fully shows the traditional virtues of the hipsters, who are cautious to the end and pursue the distance, and all the virtues's filial piety is the first. After the sacrifice, the food for ancestor worship was reheated, a big table was set in the hall, and the whole family was surrounded. This was a beautiful moment for each family to reunite. No matter how far apart a family is at ordinary times, or how many pimples there are at ordinary times, they should also laugh and laugh at this time, and can't say anything sad or noisy. After dinner, housewives were busy clearing the table, so a big cleaning activity began. This time, we don't have to pay much attention to cleaning, it's just for cleaning. Unlike the one at the end of the year, we have to brush with pine branches and grass. Then he made a fire in the stove and began to prepare the offering for tomorrow's sacrifice to God-vegetarian food. There are many kinds of vegetarian dishes, such as taro, sweet potato, jujube, peanut, taro and sweet potato. All the ingredients for vegetarian dishes should be ready at noon and allowed to dry. When frying vegetarian dishes, when the fire is ready, put an iron pot and inject a lot of peanut oil. When the oil boils, mix these materials with powder slurry and put them in the pan, and it will squeak and bubble in the oil pan. When cooked, Huang Chengcheng is especially attractive. At this time, if there are guests at home, the hostess will offer a plate of newly fried vegetarian food, and then soak in mellow congou, so that you can taste the delicious Chaoshan snacks.

Giving lucky money

Giving lucky money is an important custom in Chaoshan Spring Festival. Older people should give money to their younger generations, and those who can earn money should also give money to their elders. The money can't be sent directly to wait for a while, but should be packed in a profit-making package or read in a red paper package. This is commonly known as "pressing the belly and waist", which means that from the beginning to the end of the year, the pockets will be full of reality and wealth. What's particularly interesting is that when a child goes to bed, his parents will put a large bill in his belly pocket and get it back after waking up.

New Year's greetings, giving big oranges

New Year's greetings, also known as "worshipping righteousness". In the early morning of the first day of junior high school, when people get up and put on new clothes, the first thing they do is to pay homage to themselves. Often, the younger generation wishes their elders first, and then the elders give their expectations to the younger generation. After breakfast, they each pay a New Year call to their relatives and friends. As the saying goes in Chaoshan, "I have the intention to pay New Year's greetings on the first and second days, but I have no intention to pay New Year's greetings on the third and fourth days." It is said that the sooner you pay a New Year call, the more you will see its sincerity. Therefore, some people go to pay New Year greetings to their relatives and friends immediately after they get up, and only eat after they come back. No matter how many gifts people bring, orange (Chaozhou orange) is indispensable. Orange takes its homonym "Daji", and it doesn't matter if it is more or less, but it can't be an odd number. When new year visitors enter the door of relatives and friends, they should look at different people and say different greetings. Say "Happy New Year" and "Longevity is better than Nanshan" to the elderly, and they will grin with toothless mouths. For those who have jobs, they say "smooth work" and "progress in the New Year", which will be very pleasant to the listener; If you are a business person, what you hear most is "making a big profit in the New Year" and "making a fortune and benefiting the market"; If children are studying, what they want most is to make progress in their studies and make outstanding achievements in the New Year. Send them this greeting, and they will be very friendly to you. After taking a seat, the host will make the well-known Chaoshan congou tea to entertain guests. Before leaving, the host will leave two oranges in the gift from the recipient, and then take out his own oranges for exchange, in order to give each other good luck. When a humorous person goes out to pay New Year's greetings, he often only puts two oranges in his trouser pocket. After New Year's greetings, the two oranges are still in his trouser pocket. Therefore, people with good intentions call the New Year greetings at the beginning of the year "the movement of exchanging oranges".

going back to my parents' home

On the second and third day of the first month, the married daughters went back to their parents' home to pay New Year greetings with their husbands and children. When a daughter goes back to her mother's house, she must have a big bag of biscuits and candy, which will be distributed to the neighbors by her mother, just like the scene of the New Year. If there are many daughters in the family, and these daughters don't come back on the same day, then we will have to share them one at a time. The gift is quite thin, just four biscuits. However, it reflects a strong affection, and what is really "courtesy is light and affection is heavy", which expresses the girl's longing for the villagers. When a girl comes home, if she has a nephew at home, her aunt must pay for it again. Although she gave the lucky money on the first day of the lunar new year, this time it has a different meaning. This custom is called "eating day and night" by Chaoshan people. As the name implies, it's just lunch, and the daughter must get back to her husband's house before dinner.

Spring Festival taboos in Chaoshan area

Because the first month is the beginning of a year, Chaoshan people often regard it as a sign of the good or bad luck of the new year, so there are many "taboos" during the Spring Festival. In terms of language, all unlucky words such as "broken", "bad", "nothing", "death", "light", "ghost", "killing", "illness", "pain" and "poverty" are taboo to say. Also avoid baby crying, because crying is "no jackpot", which indicates disease and fierce disaster. Therefore, even if the child is in trouble on this day, he should not be beaten or reprimanded, lest he cry endlessly. In terms of behavior, you should be extra careful when serving cups, plates, bowls and dishes, and you should not break them. When you accidentally break them, it is only a formality to take water. The custom of banning sweeping the floor is gradually being eliminated, because firecrackers are set off during the Spring Festival, people come and go, and there are a lot of scraps of paper and garbage on the ground. It is really harmful not to clean it. Therefore, starting from paying attention to hygiene, many young people are not very particular about these traditional taboo customs.

on this day, creditors are not allowed to come to collect debts, because people think that this day is unlucky for both borrowers and borrowers. Also avoid taking things from other people's pockets. People think that the pockets on the first day of the first month of the first month are taken out, which may lead to the danger of being "hollowed out" for a year.

Don't die, and don't hold funerals, because it will bring bad luck to your family. At the same time, don't get a haircut on this day, because people always associate a haircut with a funeral on this day. On this day, it is even forbidden to kill. Killing is considered to lead to disasters such as knife disaster, soldier disaster and blood disaster. However, now people's living standards have improved, and they have no scruples to eat fresh food for the sake of quick appetite.

In terms of diet, it is forbidden to take medicine on this day. Otherwise, it is considered that it will lead to illness all year round and take medicine constantly. There are several ways to avoid eating meat for breakfast on the first day of junior high school: one is that this meal is fast, and its function is equal to one year; The other is a metaphor for managing the family diligently, not extravagance and waste.

Xijiang house boat Spring Festival custom

On the surface of the "Little Three Gorges" in Zhaoqing section of Xijiang River in northwest Guangdong, there are still some "house boat" who take boats as their home. Some of these fishermen have lived on boats for generations. Most of them cook on boats, and most of them still burn firewood. Fishermen also like to plant sweet potatoes, rape, onions, garlic seedlings, etc. in the open space on the bank of the river to subsidize their lives.

After the Spring Festival, fishermen put up red banners with auspicious wishes in their residences. They like to put "Bon voyage" on the bow, "All goes well" and "Peace for all ages" on the cabin, and "red money" with unique money paper-cut patterns. In addition, they have to set off firecrackers at the bow, offer sacrifices to their ancestors and offer sacrifices to the gods on the shore to bless their peace and happiness. Sacrifices are mainly yuba (Fulu), celery (diligence), green onions (cleverness), lettuce (wealth), oranges (auspiciousness), apples (peace), horseshoes, arrowheads (all bearing children) and so on.

Spring Festival in Zhanjiang

Like other parts of the country, the Spring Festival is the most grand and rich traditional festival among the people, but it also has local characteristics. Generally speaking, it takes about one month from preparation to the end of the Spring Festival in rural areas, and preparations begin in the middle of December of the lunar calendar, including renovating houses, purchasing furniture, adding new clothes, and purchasing various kinds of new year's goods. New year's goods include cane sugar, glutinous rice, New Year pictures, couplets, sweets, biscuits and firecrackers, and most of the money earned in a year is used for the Spring Festival.

On the 29th or 31th of 2118, the most lively scenes were slaughtering pigs, catching fish in ponds, and catching the evening fair in time for the New Year. Men, women and children all went out together. In the evening, every household posted "Year Red", which included both New Year pictures and traditional "door gods". Most of the couplets were related to wealth and so on. The families of military martyrs posted couplets issued by the civil affairs department "Carry forward the revolutionary tradition and strive for greater glory" at the gate, while the kitchens, pigs and chicken stalls posted "Enough to eat" and "Six Livestock Flourishing". After the reunion dinner, it is a lucky money. At 12: 11, firecrackers exploded in every household to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.

On the first day of the Lunar New Year, three taboos are generally popular in rural areas: no killing, no pouring water and no sweeping the floor. Some rural areas are still used to fasting. On the second day of the lunar new year, I began to visit relatives and friends. You come and I will go. During this period, most villages and towns had lion dances, wandering spirits, parades, big dramas, martial arts performances and ball games, and all kinds of folk activities lasted for more than half a month.

Shenzhen, like other places, retains rich traditional cultural heritage and customs. Historically, ancestors opened up here more than 6,111 years ago, the Eastern Jin Dynasty established counties here more than 1,711 years ago, Nantou Ancient City and Dapeng Suo City were built here more than 611 years ago, and a large number of Hakkas settled and multiplied here more than 311 years ago. Baoan County, the predecessor of Shenzhen, is a combination of local residents Guangfu and Hakka, and still lives here.