The small village of Huangjing in Taicang, Jiangsu province has a deep-rooted culture of celebrating the Spring Festival.

China Central Television (CCTV) recently came to the village to broadcast the holiday celebrations to the whole country, sharing the village‘s truly authentic folk customs for welcoming the new year.

Folk art performances

A local Huangjing resident takes part in a dance performance with smile. [Photo/wechat: tcgdyfw]

Like many towns and villages in the areas south of the Yangtze River, Huangjing has preserved ancient customs that residents enjoy during the Spring Festival, including lion and dragon dances, paohanchuan (a dance performed with a boat made of cloth) and gong and drum music.

Chu Huiqing, a Huangjing native, would feel glum had he missed the folk performances to usher in the new year.

Local residents give a gong and drum performance in the public square. [Photo/Taicang Daily]

Celebratory banquet in a local household

In addition to performances, CCTV crews also visited a local household to showcase how a traditional meal for the Lunar New Year is prepared.

In Northern China, people prefer making dumplings. In the South, however, wonton is a must for the festival.

Taicang residents make wonton to celebrate the new year. [Photo/Taicang Daily]

Wonton is in the shape of yuanbao, an ancient form of money, which endows the food with the connotation of wealth in the new year.

Family members will take part in the food preparations together, sitting around the table chatting, laughing and burying their wishes into the wonton.

Taicang specialties, like fresh hilsa herring and dried meat floss, are also served for the celebratory banquet.

Taicang’s New Year Gala will also be held in the city‘s stadium. CCTV will broadcast the event to audiences nationwide as representative of rural areas in East China.

Taicang Stadium will host the city‘s New Year Gala, to be broadcast through China Central Television (CCTV) during the holiday. [Photo/wechat: tcgdyfw]