The Spring Festival in Xuzhou area is traditionally called "Chinese New Year". The main customs are: (1) Calling Huo Zhu. Before the founding of the Republic of China, starting from the beginning of the twelfth lunar month (the twelfth lunar month), each village and town would set up dedicated personnel to keep watch.

In addition to beating gongs and drums to indicate the time, the watchman also shouts: "Be careful of candles and candles, guard the door", "Wood barns must be clear, and water tanks must be full."

Remind people to pay attention to fire and theft prevention.

In the city of Xuzhou, beggars appeared, carrying wooden signs on their shoulders with government notices posted on them, walking through the streets and shouting "prevent fire and theft" and other warnings.

(2) Sending the God of Wealth to the God of Wealth. After the 20th day of the twelfth lunar month, beggars will send statues of the God of Wealth to all the households in the area.

Around the fifth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, the beggars take the wooden tablets and go to each house to compare the wooden tablets with the wooden tablets and ask for Nianmo (steamed New Year buns) from each house.

(3) Dusting. As we enter the late twelfth lunar month, every family needs it.

"Dust cleaning" (commonly known as "house cleaning") is a relatively thorough indoor and outdoor hygiene and personal hygiene cleaning. Personal hygiene is usually carried out on New Year's Eve. In addition to bathing, a haircut must be performed, which is commonly known as "not leaving any gaps in the year." (

4) Make New Year’s goods starting from the second half of the twelfth lunar month. In addition to chicken, fish, meat and eggs, prepare some traditional foods such as candies, fried sesame leaves, fried fruits, meatballs, etc. In addition, chop up enough dumpling fillings to last for several days.

, Steamed buns that can last for more than ten days. (5) Steamed steamed buns (New Year buns) are very particular. There are various styles such as solid, stuffed, and jujube. Some are eaten, and some are used to worship ancestors.

God, some people give it to beggars or even feed livestock. Because the steamed buns are steamed a lot, they become dry and cracked after being stored for a long time, which is commonly known as "laughing."

It means that the new year will have plenty of food, clothing, and happiness.

(6) Giving Boxing Gifts Boxing Day gifts are mostly given among relatives.

No later than New Year’s Eve.

Boxing gifts are just a few kilograms of cakes, often given to male elders, plus one or two bottles of wine.

But a new son-in-law, especially an unmarried son-in-law who is about to get married, is very particular about giving festive gifts.

Live chickens, fresh carp, cakes and wine are indispensable. At least 4 pieces (package) of each item are required, and as many as 16 pieces (package) are required.

To show extravagance, he also needs to add expensive cigarettes and cash. The woman only takes half and returns the other half.

(7) Post New Year pictures and Spring Festival couplets Before the Spring Festival, people want to buy New Year pictures to decorate their houses.

Pictures of roosters, which symbolize good luck, and carps, which symbolize wealth and abundance, are generally loved by people; young women like to post New Year pictures like "Fat Baby" in their bedrooms.

Spring couplets are mostly posted on New Year's Eve. After they are written on red paper, they are pasted on the door and door frame.

Cut small squares out of red paper, turn one corner upward, write "Fu", "Longevity", etc., and stick them on furniture and large utensils.

Various colored paper cuts are pasted on the lintel to pray for good luck, so it is commonly called "Luck Admonition (Qian)".

There are also peach branches inserted on the side of the door, which are probably a symbol of ancient peach charms.

(8) Staying up late on New Year's Eve In the past, when staying up late on New Year's Eve, the whole family would sit around the fire, eat various refreshments, make flat food (dumplings), and talk about the old and the new.

Before dawn, it is important to set off a firecracker.

Since television became popular, staying up late on New Year's Eve has been replaced by watching TV, and firecrackers have mostly been set off at midnight.

(9) Worshiping gods and ancestors and saying goodbye to the new year. On New Year's Eve, each family puts steamed jujube mountains and jujube steamed buns, inserts "flowers" in each, and puts them on the sacred axis (or the statue of Guanyin, or Guandi) together with the flat food.

The offering table in front of the statue of the God of Wealth (depending on their respective beliefs), together with five kinds of fruits, including chestnuts, ginkgo, red dates, Guiyuan and walnuts, is called a "vegetable offering".

A square table is placed in front of the offering table. A lit copper lamp and a copper pan are placed on the table. A worship mat is placed in front of the square table.

There is another room for ancestral shrines.

On the offering table in front of the shrine, there are five kinds of food, fish, meat, meatballs and seafood, commonly known as "meat offerings".

Around 8 p.m., the whole family puts on new clothes and burns pine nuts in the courtyard, which is commonly known as "staying up late".

At midnight, to worship the gods, set up a heaven and earth table, offer fruits, flat food, steamed buns, drink three glasses of wine, light all-night candles, put on a large stick of incense, insert the heaven and earth code in the incense burner, burn ingots (made of tin foil) in front of the table, and then bow to the elders and younger ones.

Respecting heaven and earth, gods, and ancestors, and setting off firecrackers at the same time, commonly known as "welcoming the gods" (the gods descend to the realm on New Year's Eve).

After a short rest, the whole family knelt down and worshiped in front of the ancestral shrine.

After paying homage to the ancestors, the parents and the couple sit upright on chairs. The younger generations kowtow one by one, and then the younger ones kowtow to the elders one by one. This is commonly known as "Kowtow to bid farewell to the New Year." (10) New Year's greetings. The first important thing when you get up in the morning during the Spring Festival is

It means New Year greetings. First, the parents will lead the whole family to pay New Year greetings to their ancestors, and then the whole family will pay New Year greetings to the parents one by one, and the younger ones will pay New Year greetings to the elders. After the New Year greetings, the whole family will go out.

Pay New Year greetings to relatives, friends, and elders in the neighborhood. When people meet on the road, they will bow to each other and wish each other "Happy New Year" and "Wishing you good fortune." (11) Eat vegetarian food. You must eat vegetarian food on the Spring Festival.

Those who eat meat stuffing are allowed to eat it (in the past 10 years, this traditional custom has been broken by young people). If there are a few copper coins (later changed to nickel coins) in the food, it means that the new year will be blessed and everything will go well.

Housewives often mark the money-wrapped flat food and cook it specially for the elderly and children to entertain the whole family. As the saying goes, "don't eat meat on the first day of the lunar month, squat on the meat on the second day of the lunar month."

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, people in Xuzhou start to eat, drink and drink. They burn incense and offer sacrifices to the gods in the morning, and then stop at the fifth day of the first lunar month.

On this day, it is forbidden to use needlework.