The Spring Festival is an important Chinese traditional festival. As an ancient city, Beijing has a long history, and thus the traditional customs here are also long-standing and colorful.
Usually, the traditional activities start from the Laba Festival (a traditional Chinese holiday celebrated on the eighth day of the La Month, the twelfth lunar month). On December 8 of the lunar calendar, people drink Laba congee. Especially, local people in Beijing make Laba rice wine and pickled Laba garlic. As the Laba Festival is the prelude to the Lunar New Year, there is a saying that the Laba Festival leads the Chinese New Year.
And for locals in Beijing, the so-called "Little New Year," the twenty-third day of the La Month every year, is known as the day for worshipping the Kitchen God. On this day, people will place offerings on the table in front of the paper image of the Kitchen God. The most special offering is Tanggua (a kind of candy made of maltose; literally "sugar melon"), used to sweeten the Kitchen God's words to the Jade Emperor while he returns to Heaven for his annual report. Despite the continuous development of the times, the good meaning of Tanggua remains.
On the day of the Little New Year, the procedure for New Year would be officially launched. After sending away the Kitchen God, people do the cleaning and welcome the New Year.
The thirtieth day of the La Month, also known as Lunar New Year's Eve, is the last day of the year of the Chinese calendar. On this day, early in the morning, people clean the house and put up Fai Chun (also known as Chunlian, a traditional decoration), Chinese paper cuttings, and New Year pictures to welcome the new year with new morale. On the evening of Lunar New Year's Eve, it's time for the reunion dinner. As for the traditional reunion dinner in Beijing, respectable families would serve twelve dishes—four cold and eight hot, symbolizing smooth stability. The climax of the reunion dinner is dumplings. Dumplings are made to be like Yuanbao, a shoe-shaped gold ingot used as money in ancient China, to signify auspiciousness. All the family members should join in making the filling for the dumplings. Vegetarian dumplings are also made as offerings. And many families would put a coin in a random dumpling. It's believed that the one who picks the dumpling with a coin can enjoy good fortune in the coming year. Other traditional dishes for a reunion dinner in Beijing include Chinese cabbage in mustard, quick-fried diced chicken with cucumber preserved in sweet paste, and haw jelly with shredded cabbage.
In addition to having the reunion dinner, people have the habit of staying up late on Lunar New Year's Eve. This activity always starts from the reunion dinner. People enjoy the dinner slowly and the dinner may last into the next day in some families.
It's still full of the atmosphere of the Spring Festival after New Year's Eve. From Lunar New Year's Day, people worship ancestors, go out for sightseeing tours of the city, and visit relatives and friends. And the elders also give money in red envelopes to kids. This cheerful atmosphere will last until the Lantern Festival. All these joys make up a happy Spring Festival.
(Sources: Xinhuanet, CNR, China News Service, Beijing Daily App)