0644Translation: Spring Festival of Beijing (Lao She)
Translation: Spring Festival of Beijing (Lao She)
(translated by: alexcwlin; edited by: Adam Lam)
According to Beijing’s old rules, the Spring Festival begins almost in the early part of the twelfth lunar month.
According to established custom of Beijing, Spring Festival starts during the first ten days of the last lunar calendar month.
“It’s the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month and the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, jackdaws freeze to death”,
There is an old saying: “Temperature on 7th and 8th of last lunar month could freeze jackdaw to death”.
This is the coldest time of the year.
This is the coldest period of the year.
On Laba Day, every family cooks Laba porridge.
On this 8th day of the last lunar month practically every family cooks Laba Rice Porridge.
Porridge is made with various rice, various beans, and various dried fruits.
This porridge simmers for a long time with ingredients of different types of rice, beans and dried fruits in water.
This is not porridge, but a small agricultural exhibition.
You can say this is not porridge, but a small-scale agricultural product exhibition.
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In addition, we also need to soak Laba garlic on this day.
Beside this, people usually pickle Laba garlics on this day.
Put the garlic cloves in vinegar and seal them for Chinese New Year dumplings.
They put garlics inside vinegar and seal up the container until Chinese New Year when the pickled garlics will be eaten with dumplings.
By the end of the year, the pickled garlic will be as green as emeralds, and the vinegar will be At the end of the lunar year, the pickled garlics would be green as jadeite and the vinegar would be a bit spicy-hot.
Beautiful color and taste , which makes people want to eat more dumplings.
Both the color and taste of the garlics are so appetizingly appealing that people couldn't help but eat a few more dumplings at the same time.
In Beijing, during the Chinese New Year, home Eat dumplings at home.
During Chinese New Year in Beijing, all families eat dumplings.
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As children prepare to celebrate the New Year, the first big thing is to buy miscellaneous companions.
When children are getting ready for Chinese New Year, the first important thing they would do is to buy Mixed Nuts Candy.
This is made of peanuts, dates, hazelnuts, chestnuts, etc. Made from a mixture of dried fruits and candied fruits.
This is made of mixing together peanuts, cooked jujubes, hazelnuts, chestnuts, other dried fruits, and honey-preserved fruits.
Children love to eat these bits and pieces.
Children like eating these snacks.
The second big thing is to buy firecrackers, especially for boys.
The second important thing they would do is to buy firecrackers—particularly for boys.
I’m afraid the third important thing they would do is to buy various gadgets—kites, diabolos, harmonicas, etc. .
I am afraid buying different playthings, such as kites, diabolos, harmonicas, etc., would only be the third thing on the to-do list.
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The children were happy and the adults were also busy.
Children love this time of the year, and adults are busy scrambling to get ready.
They must prepare food, drink, clothing and supplies for the New Year,
They have to prepare for food, drinks, clothes, and things for use during Chinese New Year.
Fortunately, everything will be renewed during the New Year.
It is an opportune time during the New Year that all things are going to have an air of turning refreshingly new.
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Celebrating the Little New Year on the 23rd of the twelfth lunar month is almost a "dress rehearsal" for the Spring Festival.
The 23rd day of the last lunar month is more or less a “rehearsal” for Spring Festival.
As soon as the sky gets dark and the firecrackers go off, it feels like the New Year.
Once it gets dark, sounds of strings of exploding firecrackers would furnish a flavor of Chinese New Year.
On this day, it is time to eat sweets, and there are many maltose candy sold on the street. With glutinous rice-candies,
Anyone looking for candies to eat on this day can find vendors of barley-sugar candies and glutinous rice-candies on the street.
Candy-shaped or rectangular Or it is melon-shaped, sweet and sticky, and is a favorite among children.
These sweet and sticky candies are fashioned into shapes of rectangles or melons, and are definitely children's favorites.
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After the 23rd, everyone is even busier.
Once the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar-month is over, people get even busier.
It must be cleaned once, and meat, chicken, fish, vegetables, rice cakes, etc. They have to do a thorough cleanup of their houses and stock up enough in meat, chickens, fish, vegetables, New Year rice-cakes and others.
—— Most shops are closed from the first day to the fifth day of the first lunar month and do not open until the sixth day of the first lunar month.
Shops mostly close between the 1st to the 5th day of the new lunar year and do not open until the 6th.
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New Year's Eve is really lively.
Chinese New Year Eve is really lively.
Every family is rushing to prepare New Year dishes.
All families hasten to prepare New Year dishes.
The aroma of wine and meat is everywhere.
Everywhere is permeated with the pleasant smell of wine and cooked meat.
People of all ages wear new clothes on this day.
Red lucky spring couplets are plastered on the outside of doors and New Year luck-wishing drawings of various colors are posted inside houses.
Lamps are lit, without interruption, throughout the night during Chinese New Year Eve.
The sound of firecrackers continues day and night.
Firecracker sounds can be heard all day and night.
People who work outside must rush home to have a reunion dinner unless absolutely necessary.
People working far away from hometowns would, unless circumstances dictate otherwise, come home for the family get-together dinners on Chinese New Year Eve.
On this night, except for very young children , no one sleeps, everyone has to stay up late.
On this night, with the exception of very small children, hardly anybody would sleep and they would stay up all night as a custom.
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The scene on the first day of the New Lunar Year is completely different from that on New Year’s Eve:
The scene on the first day of the New Lunar Year is completely different from that during Chinese New Year Eve.
Shops are closed with planks covering up the fronts.
Piles in front of the doors Firecracker paper bits from last night are strewn in front of doors.
The whole city is resting.
The entire city is taking a rest.
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< p>Men go to the homes of relatives and friends to pay New Year greetings before noon.Men go to homes of relatives and friends before noon to extend Chinese New Year well-wishes.
Women receive guests at home.
Women stay home to greet visitors.
Many temples inside and outside of the city are holding temple-fairs.
Many temples inside and outside of the city are holding temple-fairs.
Vendors set up stalls selling tea, food and various toys outside the temple.
Street vendors set up stands to sell tea, food and toys outside of the temples.
Children especially like to go to temple fairs to have the opportunity to see the wild scenery outside the city. , you can ride a donkey and buy those New Year-specific toys.
Children particularly love to wander around these temple-fairs because they could have a chance to see wilderness outside of the city, ride donkeys and buy unique New Year toys.
There are Horse racing and camel racing.
Temple-fairs hold horse races and camel races.
These competitions are not about who is first and who is second, but a performance of horses, camels and riders in front of the audience. Beautiful gestures and skillful skills.
These races do not compete for first/second positions, but are intended to showcase gracefulness and skills of horses, camels and riders in front of spectators.
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Most shops open on the sixth day of the first lunar month, but they are not very busy.
Most shops open on the 6th day of the New Year but business would not be too busy.
The guys in the shop can also take turns visiting temple fairs, walking over the overpass and listening to operas.
Many shop employees could take turns to visit temple-fairs, stroll on overpass bridges and listen to Chinese operas.
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The Lantern Festival is on the market, and another climax of the Spring Festival has arrived.
Glutinous rice dumplings are put on sale and Spring Festival reaches another climatic day.
On the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, lanterns and colorful lights are everywhere, and the whole street looks like a wedding, prosperous and beautiful.
On the 15th day of the New Year everywhere is decorated with lanterns and colored festoons, as if the whole main street has turned beautifully red in celebration of a happy event.
Famous Renowned time-honored shops display several hundreds of hanging lanterns of all types.
Some are all made of glass. Yes, some are all made of horns, some are all gauze lanterns, and some are all painted with stories from "A Dream of Red Mansions" or "Water Margin".
Often these lanterns are uniformly of the same style, such as glass lanterns, ox-horn lanterns, gauze lanterns, or colorfully painted lanterns with storylines such as “Dream in Red Chamber” or “Outlaws of Marsh” .
This was also a kind of advertisement back then.
At the time, it is a sort of advertising as well.
Once the lights are hung, anyone can enter the shop and visit.
When the lanterns are hung up, anyone can enter the shops to look.
When candles are lit in the lanterns at night, there will be more viewers.
At night when candles are lit inside the lanterns, more spectators would come.
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Little children buy different kinds of firecrackers to be set off.
Even if they don’t run into the street Being naughty, you can still play with sound and light at home.
Even if these kids don't go onto the street to cause mischiefs, they could play up a storm just staying home.
There are also lanterns at home: revolving lanterns, palace lanterns, all kinds of lanterns paper lanterns, and gauze lanterns.
There are lanterns at home: merry-go-round lanterns, palace lanterns, paper lanterns, and gauze lanterns.
There are small bells inside, Then it will make a tinkling sound.
Some of them have little bells inside which start ringing when certain times come.
Everyone must eat Yuanxiao on this day!
Also on this day people would eat glutinous rice dumplings.
This is indeed a beautiful and happy day.
This is indeed a joyous day.
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In the blink of an eye, lantern lights start to wane and temple-fair activities begin to wind down.
The Spring Festival falls on the tenth day of the first lunar month Nine is over.
Spring Festival ends on the 19th day of the New Year.
It’s time for students to go to school and adults to go about their business as usual.
Students are going back to school and adults are returning to work as usual.
The twelfth lunar month and the first lunar month are the most leisurely times in rural areas.
The last and first lunar months are the least busy in farm villages.
After the Lantern Festival, the weather gets warmer, and everyone is busy working again.
After the Lantern Festival, the weather turns warm and people get busy making a living.
Although Beijing is a city, it also celebrates the New Year with the countryside, and the time is extremely lively.
Even though Beijing is a city, yet it celebrates Chinese New Year just like a farm village except its activities are more effervescent.
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