Anhui Lu' an custom

The customs of Lu 'an, Anhui Province are introduced as follows:

(1) Spring Festival:

There are many customs in the Spring Festival, most of which belong to some good wishes and hopes, such as happiness, auspiciousness and well-being. For example, the 18th and 19th of the twelfth lunar month are "dust removal days". Old cloth is removed and new cloth is prayed for health. The 23rd and 24th of the twelfth lunar month are "off-year", praying for peace.

The last day of the twelfth lunar month is "New Year's Eve". Put up Spring Festival couplets, hang new paintings, tie lanterns, set off firecrackers, light lanterns, have a reunion dinner and celebrate the New Year for every household. New Year's Eve and the first and second days of the first month of the following year are called "Chinese New Year". On the morning of the third day of the first month, firecrackers are set off to "send the New Year".

(2) Lantern Festival:

"The fifteenth day of the first month is like a year" and "Celebrating the New Year fifteen nights in advance" is a tradition in Lu 'an. Breakfast at the Lantern Festival is usually wrapped in a copper coin or coin in jiaozi, and people who eat it are said to be "lucky".

After breakfast, or catch up, or watch lights, or go shopping, or have fun. It's night, and there are big lanterns in both urban and rural areas. In towns, during the Lantern Festival tour, firecrackers are set off in front of residents and shops, and cigarettes and sugar are given away. In the countryside, the Lantern and Dragon Lantern teams compete to perform, singing and dancing all night.

(3) Dragon Boat Festival:

The custom of making zongzi and dragon boat racing is popular. Zongzi includes ham zongzi, jujube zongzi, meat zongzi and bean paste zongzi. Well-prepared and colorful. As for the dragon boat race, it is a grand water sport. The dragon boats in the water are dressed as Qinglong, Huanglong and Bailong. The rowers in the boat were dressed in colorful clothes, tied neatly, paddling with both hands, sitting beside the boat separately, and the drummer stood at the bow.

At the command, several ships fired, and the water was lively and the shore was cheering.

(4) Mid-Autumn Festival:

There is a custom of "celebrating the Mid-Autumn Festival before the Dragon Boat Festival". If the weather is fine on Mid-Autumn Festival night and the moon turns slowly, every family will put tables and chairs in the yard, in front of the door or on the balcony, prepare moon cakes, fruits and tea, and chat while eating, making the family happy. In rural areas, in addition to enjoying the moon and tasting delicious food, teenagers often go outside the village to light torches, lay fireballs and dance dragons and lions. The sky and the ground are full of flying colors.

After everything calmed down, a small group of children quietly went to "touch the autumn". The so-called "touching autumn" means stealing crops by moonlight, and touching different crops will have different signs. It is a pleasure and fun full of mystery, adventure and longing for life.