LIFE STYLE, CULTURE: The Spring Festival of a Dog Year
by Hou Dong and Li Mu
“Guo Nian Le.”
As firecrackers herald the Dog year Spring Festival, northerners and southerners began celebrations in their own fashions, sharing a tender affection for dogs: Less are eaten, more are cuddled as pets, especially in bigger cities.
In the northern city of Donggang,Liaoning province, a few days before the spring festival, people living in the countryside have their pigs killed. Relatives and friends are invited to eat the meat together with some special cusines, as a warm-up of the whole new-year celebration. “Blood intestines” is only served when a pig is killed. It is made by a mixture of pig blood, flour, amylum, and lots of fixings that is put into the intestines. When it is cooked, it is one of the most delicious dishes during the pig eating. “Acid cabbage” is another special food in the north during the pig eating. The dish is made by fermented cabbage. The acid flavor along with the meat cooked with the cabbage is a lavish enjoyment for the stomach.
Then comes Chuxi, the last day of a whole year on the lunar calendar. During this day, the whole family will have a big get-together. Children get dressed in their new clothes. People born in the dog's year are required to dress in red, especially in red stocks and underwear, through which people believe will bring good luck and a good beginning to them. The northerners also stick the character“福(fortune)”and spring couplets on the door to make the new-year wish. People usually stay up a whole night. At 12 o'clock, fireworks are fired and dumplings are made and eaten together. It is the most joyful moment during the Spring Festival.
The first day of the New Year is usually spent in grandfather and grandmother's home. Children say “Happy New Year” to the elders, which will earn them Yasuiqian, a considerable amount of money as a lunar New Year gift. On this day, the New Year will be invited to home.
The second day of the New Year is to “send” the New Year, during which the fireworks are fired. The third day is called “a day to return to the wife's home”, which means the whole family is going to visit the wife's mother and father. During the next five days, relatives are usually playing poker and mahjong together, looking back to the past year while looking forward to the next year. These are the golden days for the whole family to enjoy together and talk together.
In the southern city of Jishou, Hunan province, people continue their old custom of buying goods for a New Year, at a nearby free market five days before Chuxi, bargaining with farmers for vegetables, meat, rice, and other must-buys. Spring couplets are stuck. Pigs are also killed for a family pig-eating, but the pig head is often reserved as a sacrifice to the ancestors until Chuxi. Some may also take pig heads to Buddhist temples to be blessed by Bodhisattva before eating. On Chuxi, after a ritual serving the ancestors with meat and fruits with ignited incense, and cracking firecrackers, the family comments the festival meal later in the afternoon. There are usually more than six dishes served on a round table, including fish (which pronounces that there will be good fortunes reserved on every year), beet (which will add sugar into family relations) and meat balls (which means that the family will always hold together). A duck cooked with soy sauce is also a popular local cuisine, and many other delicious foods are also served. There is often more food than the whole family can consume, and people are usually flattered by an over-abundance of food left by a passed year.
Many southerners are not allowed to throw away garbage or take baths on the first day of the New Year, for fear that their good luck may also be discarded. Children are also receiving pocket money from their grand parents and relatives in their new clothes. The third day is also intended as a day of returning to the wives' homes, and in villages, husbands often bring with them pig legs, sugar and oil as gifts. For most people, spring festival does not end until Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the New Year, when they celebrates with Yuanxiao, round rice balls stuffed with sweet sesames or other seasonings.
No matter how customs in the north and the south differ, dogs are treated with equal respect. Although some people are still eating dogs, most people, especially in big cities, detest the idea of having to kill the animal that is meant to bring good luck in this year.
In Beijing, a report has it that restaurants specialized in selling dog-meat cuisines are experiencing public indifference on Chuxi. A restaurant owner in Jishou said that less dog meat are ordered in spring festival, for many people are becoming sympathetic with dogs. At the same time, the pet shops are thriving, with more people coming for dogs. Prices for a common breed of dog in some pet markets of Guangzhou have gone beyond 400 yuan.
“I wish a very lucky New Year for my family and my puppy.”said Liu, who bought a new-born Pekinese on the first day of New Year.
“Guo Nian Le.”
As firecrackers herald the Dog year Spring Festival, northerners and southerners began celebrations in their own fashions, sharing a tender affection for dogs: Less are eaten, more are cuddled as pets, especially in bigger cities.
In the northern city of Donggang,Liaoning province, a few days before the spring festival, people living in the countryside have their pigs killed. Relatives and friends are invited to eat the meat together with some special cusines, as a warm-up of the whole new-year celebration. “Blood intestines” is only served when a pig is killed. It is made by a mixture of pig blood, flour, amylum, and lots of fixings that is put into the intestines. When it is cooked, it is one of the most delicious dishes during the pig eating. “Acid cabbage” is another special food in the north during the pig eating. The dish is made by fermented cabbage. The acid flavor along with the meat cooked with the cabbage is a lavish enjoyment for the stomach.
Then comes Chuxi, the last day of a whole year on the lunar calendar. During this day, the whole family will have a big get-together. Children get dressed in their new clothes. People born in the dog's year are required to dress in red, especially in red stocks and underwear, through which people believe will bring good luck and a good beginning to them. The northerners also stick the character“福(fortune)”and spring couplets on the door to make the new-year wish. People usually stay up a whole night. At 12 o'clock, fireworks are fired and dumplings are made and eaten together. It is the most joyful moment during the Spring Festival.
The first day of the New Year is usually spent in grandfather and grandmother's home. Children say “Happy New Year” to the elders, which will earn them Yasuiqian, a considerable amount of money as a lunar New Year gift. On this day, the New Year will be invited to home.
The second day of the New Year is to “send” the New Year, during which the fireworks are fired. The third day is called “a day to return to the wife's home”, which means the whole family is going to visit the wife's mother and father. During the next five days, relatives are usually playing poker and mahjong together, looking back to the past year while looking forward to the next year. These are the golden days for the whole family to enjoy together and talk together.
In the southern city of Jishou, Hunan province, people continue their old custom of buying goods for a New Year, at a nearby free market five days before Chuxi, bargaining with farmers for vegetables, meat, rice, and other must-buys. Spring couplets are stuck. Pigs are also killed for a family pig-eating, but the pig head is often reserved as a sacrifice to the ancestors until Chuxi. Some may also take pig heads to Buddhist temples to be blessed by Bodhisattva before eating. On Chuxi, after a ritual serving the ancestors with meat and fruits with ignited incense, and cracking firecrackers, the family comments the festival meal later in the afternoon. There are usually more than six dishes served on a round table, including fish (which pronounces that there will be good fortunes reserved on every year), beet (which will add sugar into family relations) and meat balls (which means that the family will always hold together). A duck cooked with soy sauce is also a popular local cuisine, and many other delicious foods are also served. There is often more food than the whole family can consume, and people are usually flattered by an over-abundance of food left by a passed year.
Many southerners are not allowed to throw away garbage or take baths on the first day of the New Year, for fear that their good luck may also be discarded. Children are also receiving pocket money from their grand parents and relatives in their new clothes. The third day is also intended as a day of returning to the wives' homes, and in villages, husbands often bring with them pig legs, sugar and oil as gifts. For most people, spring festival does not end until Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the New Year, when they celebrates with Yuanxiao, round rice balls stuffed with sweet sesames or other seasonings.
No matter how customs in the north and the south differ, dogs are treated with equal respect. Although some people are still eating dogs, most people, especially in big cities, detest the idea of having to kill the animal that is meant to bring good luck in this year.
In Beijing, a report has it that restaurants specialized in selling dog-meat cuisines are experiencing public indifference on Chuxi. A restaurant owner in Jishou said that less dog meat are ordered in spring festival, for many people are becoming sympathetic with dogs. At the same time, the pet shops are thriving, with more people coming for dogs. Prices for a common breed of dog in some pet markets of Guangzhou have gone beyond 400 yuan.
“I wish a very lucky New Year for my family and my puppy.”said Liu, who bought a new-born Pekinese on the first day of New Year.
