Savoring the old Beijing New Year flavor

Beijing's Spring Festival ——Lao She According to Beijing's old customs, the Lunar New Year (Spring Festival) starts around the beginning of the twelfth lunar month. 'On the seventh or eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, even crows are frozen to death,' which is the coldest time of the year. However, spring is not far after the severe winter, so people's enthusiasm for celebrating the New Year and welcoming spring is not diminished by the cold. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, every household and temple makes Laba porridge. This specially made porridge is for worshipping ancestors and gods, but on closer thought, it is a proud display of an agricultural society—this porridge is made from all kinds of rice, beans, and dried fruits (almonds, walnuts, melon seeds, lychee meat, lotus seeds, peanuts, raisins, water caltrop rice...) It's not just porridge, it's a mini agricultural exhibition. On the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, Laba garlic is also soaked. Garlic cloves are put into vinegar on this day, sealed up, and used for eating dumplings during the New Year. By the end of the year, the garlic is soaked to the color of jade, and the vinegar also has a spicy taste. The beautiful color and taste make people want to eat more dumplings. In Beijing, every family eats dumplings during the New Year. From the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month, shops start to stock up on New Year goods, and there are more stalls on the streets—selling couplets, New Year pictures, honey offerings, daffodils, etc. These are all things that only appear in this season. These New Year stalls make children's hearts beat faster. In the alleys, there are more and more complex calls than usual, including those that only appear in the twelfth lunar month, such as selling constitution books, pine branches, Job's tears, rice cakes, etc. The 23rd day is the Little New Year, which is almost a 'rehearsal' for the New Year. In the old society, every family worshipped the Kitchen God on this night. As soon as it got dark, firecrackers started to sound, and with the sound of the firecrackers, the paper image of the Kitchen God was burned, beautifully named 'sending the Kitchen God to heaven'. In the previous few days, there were many stalls selling maltose and glutinous rice sugar on the streets. The sugar is either in the shape of a rectangle or a melon. According to the old saying: use sugar to stick the Kitchen God's mouth, so that he won't report the bad things in the family to the Jade Emperor when he gets to heaven. Now, there are still sugar sellers, but it's only for everyone to enjoy, and no longer to stick the Kitchen God's mouth. ps: The article is excerpted from Lao She's 'Beijing's Spring Festival', today is New Year's Eve, wishing everyone a happy New Year, may you be as vigorous as a dragon and a tiger, may you have a healthy body in the new year and a pleasant journey!!