Xinhua News Agency, Hefei, February 5th (Reporters Zhan Tingting and Wang Jian) This Spring Festival, Zhang Peng drove with his mother, wife, and son, who just started preschool, to his hometown in Fanchang County, Wuhu City, for the New Year celebration. "Besides visiting relatives in the old home, it's more important to let my wife and child experience the rich New Year atmosphere of the countryside," said Zhang Peng.
Zhang Peng and his wife are both 28 years old, typical representatives of the "post-80s" generation. "In the last few years, we were so busy with work that we didn't even prepare much for the New Year goods. We had our reunion dinner at a restaurant, and I feel like the New Year is losing its traditional charm," Zhang Peng sighed.
When talking about the scenes of his childhood New Year celebrations in his rural hometown, Zhang Peng became eloquent. "Every year in my hometown, there is a tradition of dragon dance using long benches. Villagers would parade through the village with the bench-dragon, accompanied by firecrackers and drum music. It was extremely lively. This time, I wanted my city-born wife and son to witness this spectacle," he said.
The Spring Festival is a grand occasion for Chinese families to reunite and bid farewell to the old while welcoming the new. However, as life has become faster-paced, many people have lost interest in traditional New Year customs. Staying indoors ("otaku-ing"), singing karaoke, or going on overseas tours have become popular among young people, seemingly pushing the traditional Chinese Spring Festival customs further away.
Nevertheless, many young Chinese from the "post-80s" and "post-90s" generations, like Zhang Peng, choose to revisit the traditional New Year customs, striving to create an atmosphere of festivity, making the Spring Festival enjoyable and meaningful.
Zhu Li, who works for a foreign company in Beijing, not only bought herself a bright red outfit but also purchased a variety of festive red bedding items: red sheets, red duvet covers, red cushions, and red carpets... "I would have definitely thought it was too rustic before," Zhu Li laughed, "but now I think red makes the New Year look festive, and it makes the house livelier!"
During the Spring Festival, at the Juzi Square cultural performance site in Wuhu City, performers wore distinct ethnic costumes, dazzling props caught everyone's eye; the "two dragons playing with a pearl" troupe paraded with loud drums and colorful flags; and the "big-headed dolls" joyfully led tourists in a jubilant dance.
Among the performers and audience, there were quite a few young people. "This kind of atmosphere is what the New Year is all about! I hope to participate in more folk activities in the future," Wu Yan, a girl from Wuhu studying at Nanjing University, told reporters. "I remember when I was a child, the New Year atmosphere in the city was especially strong. Now living in high-rise buildings, neighbors rarely visit each other to offer New Year greetings."
Wu Yan mentioned that to retrieve the lost New Year flavor, she asked her parents not to buy printed couplets anymore. Having studied calligraphy, she wrote several pairs herself, decorating her own home and many relatives' homes with her own "masterpieces."
"This Spring Festival, I also made spring rolls and egg dumplings for the family. Sometimes even my parents wouldn't think of making these things, and we haven't eaten them for a few years," Wu Yan said, "However, I believe that the most important part of the New Year is paying respects to the elders and chatting with them. The richest New Year flavor still lies in the reunion with family."
Researcher Wang Kaiyu from the Anhui Academy of Social Sciences expressed that the perception of "diluted New Year flavor" in society reflects the spiritual demand and anticipation of traditional Chinese New Year customs among the common people. The younger generation in China reviving various traditional New Year customs ensures that the New Year spirit continues through the generations, which is a form of inheriting Chinese traditional culture and brings comfort.