Beijing seems to have bought a big piece of meat, and everyone can eat it when it is cooked. Some places in the suburbs should be thrown out through the courtyard wall.
I am from Shandong, so I should pay attention to the birthday customs of the elderly in Shandong. Birthday in Shandong is a common custom of all ethnic groups, which has not changed much in the past and now. People usually take 60 as their birthday year. Those under 50 or whose parents are alive can't be called birthdays, only birthdays.
People under 60 celebrate their birthdays every year on the day they are born. Boil eggs and eat noodles on your birthday. Eggs are called "happy eggs" and noodles are called "longevity noodles", which means I wish you a long life. Nowadays, in addition to eating happy eggs and longevity noodles, they also buy birthday cakes, and some even light candles to celebrate according to their age.
As soon as the old man enters the birthday year, his children, relatives and friends will hold an annual birthday celebration, commonly known as "birthday celebration". For the birthday of the elderly, we should prepare gifts, which are generally based on food and clothing that the elderly like. Food is noodles and peaches. Birthday cake is essential, its shape is very traditional and folk-custom, with the words "happiness as the East China Sea" and "longevity as the South Mountain" on it. Some people who pay more attention to it write "Shoulian" and set "Shouzheng".
The common practice is that children or relatives and friends bring birthday cakes and food to celebrate the birthday of the elderly, have lunch together, and the younger generation and relatives and friends toast the elderly. Some sing "Happy Birthday to you" and some light the same number of candles on the birthday cake to show the health and longevity of the elderly.
The 60 th, 70 th, 80 th, 90 th and 66 th birthdays of the elderly are anniversary years and the most grand birthdays. Even poor families should celebrate this festival to express their children's wish for the elderly to live a long life. Some are 66 years old, and they will eat 66 small and delicious jiaozi wrapped by their daughters on the sixth day of June this year (Lunar New Year) to show their blessings.
People are very particular about giving birthdays to the elderly. They can't help celebrating their birthdays from the beginning, but congratulate them every year. Otherwise, it is called "death", which is a taboo for those who live long. On the birthday, the deceased was dressed up and sat in the main hall, receiving the blessings of his children and nephews, and the family happily got together for dinner. If you don't arrive on the day of going out because of something, you can give a gift afterwards to "make up for your life". This matter should not be forgotten.
Folk customs are very traditional and formal. For those of us who came here in the 1950s and 1960s, we really don't know much about these principles. I told my daughter that it is enough to keep the restaurant simple and make the whole family happy. Whether it is a holiday or a birthday, as long as everyone is happy, the whole family is harmonious and the children grow up healthily.