Traditional celebrations drive Lantern Festival merrymaking
TENS of thousands of residents and tourists attended a traditional celebration which included shows from across the Yangtze River Delta Region for Lantern Festival yesterday.
Hundreds of performers in about 20 teams, including some expats, paraded along Sujiatun Road in Yangpu District and performed lion and dragon dances, stilt-walking, acrobatics and other traditional acts.
Teams from neighboring Zhejiang, Jiangsu and Anhui provinces presented folk dances and lantern shows on the road. A parade involving acrobatics and traditional opera presented by an art group from Suzhou, for instance, dates back to the Song Dynasty (960-1279).
A group from Yangpu presented dock workers’ songs, matou haozi, during the parade this year. With hand towels on their shoulders, the singers belted out simple songs with powerful lyrics. The singing style was once popular among the stevedores and coolies who worked on the docks along the Huangpu River in the late 19th century.
Art troupes from Minhang, Chongming and Jiading districts also presented folk dances and shows on the road, which was decorated with hundreds of lanterns, mostly made by residents.
A group of foreign students from Tongji University presented a group performance of Chinese songs. Some of them were dressed in traditional Tang jackets for the celebration.
Many other local heritage skills are displayed along nearby Fushun Road as part of the celebration. Visitors were invited to take part in folk activities such as guessing riddles and spring couplet writing.
The Siping community in Yangpu has celebrated Lantern Festival with cultural heritage since 2005. Sujiatun Road is one of the 10 official sightseeing streets of Shanghai.
The traditional skills were brought to the region early last century by migrant workers who came to work in factories.