On the eve of the Spring Festival, off-year is essential. People will worship the kitchen god on this day and pray for the good weather in the coming year. People will also clean up the dust, clean up all the dirt and bad luck in a year, and prepare for the arrival of the Spring Festival.

Off-year is of special significance to people, but off-year in the south and off-year in the north are not on the same day. In the north, off-year is the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, while in the south, off-year is the 24th of the twelfth lunar month.

Second, "breakfast" with different characteristics

On the first day of New Year's Eve, southerners get up early and start cooking jiaozi. The breakfast of southerners is round dumplings, which indicates that the financial resources will be rolling in the coming year.

Northerners get up early to cook jiaozi, and their breakfast is jiaozi. In Song Dynasty, Jiaozi means money, and Jiaozi and Jiaozi are similar in pronunciation. Eating jiaozi means that money will be rolling in in the new year. On the morning of New Year's Day, northerners will cook a bowl of steaming noodles for breakfast, which means "everything goes well". People who eat noodles can do everything well in the New Year, but the breakfast on the second day of the New Year in the south is not so particular.

Thirdly, mascots with different meanings.

During the Spring Festival, both the South and the North have their own representative "mascots". In the north, people like to eat candied haws in the Spring Festival very much, because candied haws represent "blessings", so many parents will buy candied haws, jiaozi stuffed with zucchini and some gourd-style decorations for their children, hoping to be lucky and happy in the new year.

In the south, people prefer oranges, and kumquat welcomes the new. In the southern dialect, orange pronounced "Ji" stands for good luck. It is a good color, so when people are guests in the south, kumquat is the first thing they will entertain.