My hometown is the hometown of oranges in Guangdong? Huazhou City is located in the southwest of Guangdong Province, in the middle reaches of Jianjiang River. It is one of China's famous south-to-north food transportation bases.
As a native of Huazhou, let me introduce the New Year customs here. There are many, and I will just pick the biggest feature here? The annual customs?
The fifteenth day of the first lunar month is the "Lantern Festival", which is commonly known as "Nianli" in my hometown. However, annual festivals vary from region to region. Annual festivals are mostly concentrated around the Lantern Festival, generally starting from the second day of the first lunar month to the end of the first month. In some places, they fall in the second month of the lunar calendar. Nianli is the most solemn folk New Year festival in Huazhou. There is a saying in rural areas that "Nianli is bigger than the Spring Festival". It is also the most unique festival in Huazhou.
The main purpose of the annual calendar is to pray for good weather, prosperity of all industries, and peace and prosperity for the country and the people. The contents include wandering gods, wandering lanterns, lighting lanterns, performing rituals, lion dance, performing operas (Cantonese opera), puppet shows, setting off fireworks and firecrackers, etc. During the Chinese New Year celebrations in a village, people from surrounding villages come to watch and add to the fun. Every household holds a banquet to entertain relatives and friends. Regardless of whether they are acquaintances or not, they all provide warm hospitality with tea, rice, wine and food.
There are many programs in Nian Lian. Let me talk about the two most grand ones:
Feasting guests:
French banquets are what is called eating Nian Lv. ?, this is also the highlight of the Chinese New Year celebrations for Huazhou people. The host does not need to be familiar with the guests who come to entertain guests every year, or even have never heard of them. As long as they come, they are all welcome, and even the more the better. The more guests come, the more tables are set up, which means the more prosperous the family is. On the contrary, a house with few guests will feel left out. This is to celebrate the success of the old year and pray for good luck in the new year, and for a kind of popularity.
Wandering God
This is one of the most lively scenes in the annual event. Men, women, and children in the whole village gathered the prepared offerings in an open space at the head of the village or in the village, placed them on the offering table, and waited for the arrival of the god. Suddenly the gongs and drums rang, and people all looked in the same direction. The god was escorted by the honor guard and slowly walked toward them. After being carried around the altar table for three times, the god stopped and accepted people's worship. So some people ( Most of them are the elderly, women and children who are joining in the fun) and begin to bend down, kowtow and pray. The time for wandering in each place is generally on the day of the year. In some places, it is noon or early morning, and it varies from place to place.