Tourists parade across ancient bridge to celebrate Lantern Festival in Foshan, Guangdong
A grand fair was held in
Foshan City of south China's Guangdong Province on Sunday to celebrate the Lantern Festival, with crowds of visitors parading across an ancient bridge to make wishes for the new year.
Thousands of windmills and other celebratory items were held high by people in the parade, glittering in the ancient streets. Hundreds of thousands of red lanterns along the street lit up the new dreams of the visitors.
The most popular Lantern Festival
folk fair in the Greater Bay Area was held from the 15th day of the first lunar month to the early morning the next day. Millions of residents and tourists from home and abroad flocked to Tongji Bridge to pray for their families.
"This folk activity has a history of hundreds of years. There is a saying that passing the Tongji bridge, there will be no Biyi (a son of dragon in Chinese folktale). The so-called 'no Biyi' is to sweep away all sorrow and unhappiness. In the past three years, all of us have worked together to overcome many difficulties. This year we revisit the Tongji bridge. We are
going to sweep away all worries and annoyances," said Au Wai-pak, a visitor from Hong Kong.
The custom of walking across the Tongji Bridge in Foshan originated in the late Ming Dynasty (1573-1644). During the Lantern Festival, local people would walk across the bridge to other cities to do business or work, hoping for a smooth new year without any worries. For hundreds of years, the locals participating in folk activities would walk across the ancient bridge with a golden windmill in one hand for good luck and lettuce in the other hand to represent a wish for wealth.
This tradition has been kept in the Greater Bay Area. The fair even attracted many overseas friends to participate. "This event is so great! I can feel the passions of
Chinese people," said
Mrs. Guillem, a visitor from Spain.
"Being part of this parade, it feels so happy and so nice to be able to work and live here, we are happy to be able to join this event and feel the world of a family. This kind of scene deserves to share with the world and to feel the good vibes," said Mr. Guillem.
"As soon as the Spring Festival is over, we will go all out to work. Everyone will run like a rabbit, seize the prize, seize the time and seize the development. It will be good all year around in 2023," said Chen Haiwen, visitor from the Greater Bay Area.