Capitalizing on tradition, fun over holiday period
Beijing has its own unique blend of traditions to mark nation’s most important annual festival
Chinese New Year, which is also commonly known as Spring Festival, is the most important annual festival in China.
Celebrations in the nation’s capital, Beijing, are in many ways the same as those throughout the rest of the country.
However, as the ancient capital of six dynasties over more than 1,000 years, the city also has its own unique celebratory customs for the grand occasion.
Chinese New Year’s Day falls on the first day of the first lunar month — the newmoon day between Jan 21 and Feb 20. However, the celebration itself can last for more than a month.
In Beijing, the festival actually starts on Laba, the eighth day of the 12th lunar month. It is also said that the Buddha attained enlightenment on this day.
Laba porridge, made of eight or more ingredients, is offered to both ancestors and household deities on this day. It is then served among family members and also distributed to relatives, friends and neighbors. Pickles such as Laba garlic, are also made.
Celebrations on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month, known as Little New Year, which falls about a week before the lunar New Year, are dedicated to the kitchen god Zaowangye. According to the legend, Zaowangye reports the good and bad deeds of every family to the Jade Emperor — the Taoist ruler of heaven and all realms of existence below. As a result, families often offer sweet foods such as candy in order to “bribe” him so that he only reports their good deeds. People also burn paper effigies of the kitchen god and his wife, dispatching their spirits to heaven.
On Chinese New Year’s Eve, every family holds a reunion dinner, where family members take the opportunity to remember their ancestors and make prayers of thanksgiving for the safe passing of the previous year. In Beijing, it is a custom to make jiaozi dumplings for the dinner, which involves the participation of almost all family members. Jiaozi symbolizes wealth because their shape resembles a silver or gold ingot called Yuanbao. After the dinner, people stay awake until midnight, when they light firecrackers to welcome in the new year and scare away evil spirits.
The first day of the first lunar month marks the formal beginning of the new year and it is a time for making visits, first to the elderly members of the family, and then to other relatives, friends and neighbors. On these occasions, hosts should prepare boxes of food for their visitors. Boxes should contain items such as candy, fresh fruit and nuts, and they should always be full, showing respect and good wishes for guests. Senior members of the family hand out red envelopes containing cash — a form of blessing to suppress aging and the challenges of the coming year — to junior members of the family. New year visits can last till the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the month.
The third day of the Spring Festival is dedicated to rats and is also known as “rat marriage day”. Because of this, people often go to bed earlier to give the rats time for their wedding ceremonies. People will also leave grain on the roof of their home to feed the rats.
The fourth day is used to worship the god of wealth. Bosses of both large and small businesses will usually invite their employees to a god-worshipping ceremony on this day. If an employee is not invited to the ceremony, it means that he or she is fired.
Legends and customs
Chinese Near Year is also known as guo nian. Literally translated, it means “to overcome nian”, a horrible demonic creature in Chinese mythology. According to the legend, on the first day of every year, the creature would wake up and devour all of the grain, livestock, and sometimes children, in the nearest village. A god in the guise of a wise old man informed the terrified villagers: “The beast is easily scared. He does not like the color red and he fears loud noises. So tonight, spread red across the village. Hang red signs on every door. Make loud noises with drums, music, and fireworks.” The villagers did as the old man instructed, and nian never returned to the village.
The fable, as well as being an entertaining tale, explains why Spring Festival decorations and clothes are always red. The color red also symbolizes vigor and prosperity in business affairs.
In addition to frightening away nian, people believe firecrackers can be used to expel all kinds of evil entities and welcome auspicious gods.
Due to fears regarding pollution and accidents, the use of firecrackers and fireworks was banned in Beijing’s urban areas between 1993 and 2005. The ban was later relaxed and the use of firecrackers and fireworks is now allowed between Chinese New Year’s Day and Lantern Festival.
As Spring Festival is celebrated for several weeks, preparations are made long before the beginning of the holiday. These include purchasing food items such as meat, fruit, candy, nuts and new clothes.
In Beijing, meat such as pork, chicken, beef and lamb should be prepared in advance as it is taboo to use knives on New Year’s Day.
Locals also spend several days cleaning and decorating their homes before the New Year celebrations begin. It is believed that a thorough cleaning of the home sweeps away the bad luck of the preceding year and makes space for good luck in the coming year. People also give their homes, doors and window frames a new coat of red paint.
Children become especially excited at Spring Festival because they often receive red envelopes containing cash from the senior members of their family. The money is called yasuiqian, which literally means the “money used to suppress evil spirits”. Children also like bainian, or family visits, because they are usually treated to various kinds of delicious food.
Temple fairs are among the biggest galas seen in Beijing during the Spring Festival celebrations. Dating back to the Liao Dynasty (916-1125), the events were originally public gatherings at which local gods were worshipped and people prayed for their blessings. Later, however, the fairs evolved into temporary marketplaces where people could exchange goods and watch a variety of folk performances.
The temple fairs are a great opportunity to have fun sampling delicious local food and snacks, buying souvenirs and watching traditional xiangsheng crosstalk comedy shows, lion and dragon dances, and martial arts and acrobatics performances. Beijing’s main temple fair venues are the Temple of Earth, Longtanhu Park and Changdian in Xicheng District.