Staffs interview | How to have Spring Festival with a new years spirit

2020-01-31

As Spring Festival's customs and etiquette gradually become simpler, online new-years wishes are replacing the customary visits to relatives and friends... We somehow lost this sense of excited anticipation of the Spring Festival that we had when we were little. What is this New Years spirit? Lets see how the staffs around the country celebrate the Lunar New Year!

Bater Suhe: Inner Mongolia

Bater Suhe was born and bred in Mongolia. He hopes to pass on the traditional Spring Festival customs to his children, so theyll have happy memories and a positive attitude toward these family reunions. He wants to pass on the important New Year rituals as well as respect for the elders.

(Suhe holding a hada shawl wishing everyone a happy new year)

Huang: Guangdong Meizhou

Huang is a Hakka Chinese from Meizhou. His region is home to the custom of paying respects to the local god" on the second day of the lunar new year. 30 years ago, when the lion dance props of the village were damaged, the lion dance custom fell into disrepair as well. However, the new generation set up a crowdfunding group on WeChat and bought a new lion costume to revive the traditional culture of the village.

As the New Year approached, the youth practiced under the guidance of the village elders to prepare for the lion dance performance. So this year, to the sound of firecrackers, the dancing lion went around the village once more, bringing the good-old new years spirit and the traditional folk heritage back into the heart of the community.

(Hakka believe that the local god ensures peace and bumper harvests)

Jie: Yunnan

Jie took his family on a trip to Yunnan over the Spring Festival. For him and his family, their customary New Year trips are all about bonding as a family and experience a different way of life somewhere around China. Blue sky and white clouds are a precious gift from nature, moving around and taking in a fresh world and appreciating its beauty is his familys new years tradition.

(Donning Yunnanese ethnic costumes during a very cultural Spring Festival trip)

Cao: Xinjiang

For Caos family in Xinjiang, the significance of the Spring Festival is about family reunion. Everybody kneads dough and makes dumplings together. The fresh eight-treasure rice porridge is piping hot, the Xinjiang sauted spicy chicken is mouth-watering, and loved ones sit together sharing a wonderful meal and swap stories of the past year. Their smiles form the heart of the ritual of transition into the Spring Festival.

(Celebrating the Spring Festival is all about reunion)