There are customs such as dragon and lion dances, New Year greetings, giving oranges, visiting the flower market, giving red envelopes, having reunion dinners, etc. It’s best to have legends too!

The Chinese New Year is the most grand folk activity of the Chinese nation. The endless life of the Chinese nation for more than 5,000 years is closely related to this largest New Year culture.

Guangzhou citizens celebrate the New Year with rich and profound folk culture.

However, generations have passed, and the Spring Festival of Guangzhou people has also changed with the times. Even the God of Wealth has a cartoon version.

Some folk customs passed down from generation to generation are even forgotten by young people.

Next, I will talk about the traditional Spring Festival in Guangzhou from the following aspects.

Including the New Year's celebration schedule, Guangzhou's biggest Spring Festival flower market and New Year's food, etc.

New Year's Day - Guangzhou people are busy and lively during the New Year.

Guangzhou has entered the new year since the "Xie Zao" day on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month, and every day's activities are strictly arranged.

That is, the twenty-three to thank the stove, the twenty-four to fry, the twenty-fifth to steam the cake, the twenty-sixth to clean up the tail, the twenty-seventh to wash the things (嘢, in Guangzhou dialect, that is, east and west), the twenty-eight to pack the rice dumplings, the twenty-nine to post the Spring Festival couplets, and the thirtieth New Year.

This is the arrangement before the festival.

Xie Zao: On the twenty-third night of the twelfth lunar month, the Lord Stoker is sent to heaven, which is called "Xie Zao", "Song Zao" or "Sacrifice Zao".

The tributes offered to the stove include: a bowl of rice, two bricks of sugar, a packet of red chips, a bowl of water, a ritual of roasted pork, some sugarcane, oranges, paper money, etc.

(Speaking of tributes, I remember what my grandma said when I was a child: "Winter tangerines, New Year oranges, and Xie Zao tangerines." This probably means that when worshiping gods during the winter solstice, citrus are used, during the New Year, oranges are used, and for Xie Zao, oranges are used)

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He also wrote a "Zao Lord Shu", to the effect of apologizing to the Kitchen Lord and asking him to say good things to heaven and keep the lower world safe.

From the day when the stove was sacrificed, the New Year began to enter, and people became busy.

I think many people now don’t know about this custom.

"Guangdong Notes" says: "It is a custom in Guangzhou to explode the glutinous rice grains with fierce fire at the end of the year, which is called Pao Valley. It is used to fry the fillings; when frying the rice dumplings, the glutinous rice flour is used to make large and small rounds and filled with oil to serve as a sacrifice to the ancestors.

As a gift to relatives and friends, the flowers are fried with glutinous rice and fried in oil, which is called ten flowers. They are fried with powder mixed with white sugar and lard, which is called Shaqi." The fried things may include Paogu, Jiandui, etc.

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Twenty-five steamed cakes: In addition to steamed rice cakes, Guangzhou also likes to make carrot cakes, London cakes, water chestnut cakes, nine-layer cakes, etc., which means "New Year is better and better".

Clean the house on the 26th to welcome the new year cleanly.

There is also the "Welcome Spring Sweeping Song": On the twenty-third of the twelfth lunar month, dry the quilt and wash clothes; on the twenty-fourth of the twelfth lunar month, clean the area around the house; on the twenty-fifth of the twelfth lunar month, sweep the house and dust the dust; on the twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month, clean the livestock house

On the twenty-seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, wash the inside and outside and bring them together; on the twenty-eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, wipe all household items; on the twenty-ninth lunar month, all the dirt will be moved away.

As for the 28-pack rice dumplings, I have never heard of it. I asked the elderly at home and they all said that there is no such custom in Guangzhou now. I didn’t know about it before. Later, I read some information and found that such a custom still exists in western Guangdong.

reserve.

Our 28-year-old family will buy squid, nostoc, mushrooms, dried shrimps, vermicelli and other new year products.

Twenty-nine Spring Festival couplets include door pairs, banners, monolinguals, etc.

Most of the monolingual words read: "God bless you", "Good luck in the new year", "Everything goes well", "Safe travels in and out", "Congratulations on getting rich".

These single words must be posted according to the position of God.

On the thirtieth anniversary, housewives will be very busy on this day, when they kill chickens and ducks, worship heaven and earth, ancestors, and receive the God of Wealth, etc.

In the evening, the whole family has a reunion dinner, and then officially enters the new year.

Let me talk about another traditional custom here. Guangzhou people call it "opening the door with a cannon".

On New Year's Eve, people stay vigil until late at night to welcome good times and good luck. When it's time to give birth, they open the door and say "Open the door to auspiciousness", or put up a red-gilded "Open the door to auspiciousness" single phrase and turn on the cannon.

At this time, every household lights firecrackers.

In order to "steal the cannon head", some people held up the cannon for a few minutes and fired it up.

Others heard the sound and started to blast firecrackers, which was deafening and lasted for several hours.

It gradually became quiet after two or three o'clock.

At about four o'clock, the firecrackers went off again and didn't stop until dawn.

When you open the door and go out, the doorsteps of every house and the streets and alleys are covered with a layer of broken firecracker red paper, adding a lot of festive atmosphere.

But now in Guangzhou, due to the ban on setting off firecrackers, there is no such New Year habit on New Year's Eve.

Although there are still some people who are "not afraid of death" who will "open the door", the level of excitement is really not as good as in the past.

Without this activity, I always feel that the atmosphere of the Chinese New Year is not as strong now compared to when I was a child.

Not only is it "opening the door", but not many people in Guangzhou nowadays retain these pre-holiday customs. Taking my family as an example, I personally feel that compared to other families, our family's Spring Festival customs are relatively intact.

Activities such as thanking the stove on the 23rd, washing the food on the 27th, posting Spring Festival couplets on the 29th, and the 30th Reunion Year are still carried out. My mother will still steam some cakes when she has time during the New Year.

But now most families in Guangzhou are afraid of trouble or don't have time, so they have to buy cakes. The 30's reunion dinner is no longer eaten at home, most of them go to some restaurants for reunion dinner.

The New Year begins on the first day of the first lunar month; there are also fixed etiquette and customs every day: "On the first day of the first lunar month, people worship gods, on the second day of the lunar month, people worship people, on the third day of the lunar month, people beg for rice, on the fifth and sixth day of the lunar month, it is the year, and on the seventh day of the lunar month, people are looking for spring.

On the eighth and eighth day of the lunar month, he did not return, on the ninth day of the lunar month his head was empty, on the tenth day the spring went, on the eleventh day the children returned, on the twelfth day a lamp shed was set up, on the thirteenth day the lamp was turned on, on the fourteenth day the lamp was bright, on the fifteenth day after praying, the lamp was picked.

Get rid of all diseases." The Spring Festival activities lasted until the Lantern Festival and then came to an end.

"Good Luck" on the first day of the Lunar New Year. It is said that the Cantonese people in the past would go for an outing in the wild on the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year.