The Spring Festival in Shanxi usually begins on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month and ends on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. In some places, it doesn't end until February 2. Folklore has the saying that "the twelfth lunar month is busy, the first month is noisy, and it drags on until February", which is a true portrayal of its numerous Spring Festival customs.
In recent years, going to the Lantern Festival has become a family-wide activity during the Chinese New Year. The whole family meets to see the lanterns with great excitement, and the cold winter wind can't dispel everyone's interest. Speaking of Lantern Festival, we have to mention the ancient capital Lantern Festival in Datong, Shanxi.
The most important thing, of course, is the mouth-watering food. A plate represents a round and round jiaozi, a carp that symbolizes that there is more than a year, and a plate represents the beef stew that is full of bulls ... This table of reunion dinner, 12 dish, entrusts people with their expectations and beautiful vision for the new year. Eating jiaozi wrapped in coins means good luck this year.
In addition to the New Year's Eve dinner, dried fruits and sugar on the table are also essential. On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month (off-year), every household has to offer sacrifices to the kitchen stove, and everyone has to eat sesame candy, so that the mouth of the kitchen god can't complain. At the same time, women will settle down their children to eat the candy and can't talk casually after "pasting" their mouths.
Shanxi is rich in coal resources, which has various connections with local people's food, clothing, housing and transportation. Therefore, the Spring Festival custom in Shanxi is also inseparable from coal. Every New Year's Eve, every household in northern Shanxi will build a tower with large pieces of coal in front of the courtyard, which is called Wanghuo, in order to be auspicious and wish prosperity throughout the year.