A general cleaning before New Year's Eve, such as cleaning the hall, bedroom, kitchen, pigsty and cowshed, cleaning the front yard and sewer, washing pots, pans, cupboards, dishes and cups, scrubbing door panels and furniture, is called "dust removal". On New Year's Eve, Spring Festival couplets are posted outside the door, New Year pictures are posted inside the hall, tables are set, paper incense is lit, and firecrackers are set off to worship the ancestors. After dinner, all the rooms were brightly lit all night, which read "Pick New Year's Lights". The family sat around the fire (Zi Ming lit a fire in Nanxiang Mountain), and the elders distributed "lucky money" to the children. Eating New Year's wine in the middle of the night is quite rich in food. Set off firecrackers before going to bed and "close the door". No one is allowed to go in or out casually after "closing the door". Before liberation, the poor were heavily in debt. New Year's Eve was the last time to collect debts this year, and creditors were anxious. The debtor left his wife and children at home and took refuge temporarily, which means "being emperor" (meaning self-mockery). He slipped home before closing the door, and the creditors were helpless.
On the first day of the Spring Festival, firecrackers are set off to "open the door". After washing, the whole family got together for a "trip". In fact, they set off firecrackers, burn incense paper and bow outside the door to wish them good luck in this year. On the first day of the first year, no meat dishes are served on the table, and vegetarian dishes such as green vegetables, tofu, oily tofu and vermicelli are eaten (this custom has gradually changed in recent years, and meat dishes are also eaten). After breakfast, the younger generation pays New Year greetings to their elders in turn. Know your peers and help each other. Congratulations on getting rich. In the following days, folk entertainment activities continued. From the second day of the Lunar New Year, relatives and friends visit each other and give gifts, which is called "New Year greetings" and usually ends before the Lantern Festival. But the third day is a day of mourning.
On the fifteenth day of the first month of the Lantern Festival, every household is brightly lit, red lanterns are hung in front of the door, and rooms and pig sheds are also brightly lit. In the early days of New China, there were many kinds of lanterns along the old customs, including lion lantern, dragon lantern, clam shell lantern, arhat lantern, animal lantern, stilt lantern, Upright (dry boat) and so on. "Within the city wall, this is quite luxurious, and Lantern Festival is lit at night ... all beautiful and won ..." (Qing Tongzhi Edition "Guixi County Records"). During the "Cultural Revolution", the "four olds" were destroyed, the Lantern Festival disappeared, and only model operas and small programs were performed. Since the 1980s, with the gradual introduction of television and video into residents' homes, Lantern Festival lanterns have become rare, and fireworks are often used in towns to celebrate.
With the acceleration of modernization, the customs in some places have gradually faded away, not as grand and enthusiastic as in the past, and even children do not have the longing and expectation for the New Year as we did when we were young. As the Chinese New Year approaches, adults' mood is mixed. People from poor families call it "year-end", and it is as difficult as customs clearance. But in any case, this is the year that everyone hopes to have a happy, peaceful, peaceful and harmonious life. Although the awareness of Chinese New Year has faded, the atmosphere of Chinese New Year in a small city like Guixi is stronger and more enthusiastic than that in a big city.