Does Shanghai celebrate the New Year?

There is no such thing as "off-year" in Shanghai.

Although the northern region calls the day of "sending stoves" "off-year", Shanghai belongs to the south of the Yangtze River and has no such name. If there is, it is just called "New Year's Eve", and the night before is called "New Year's Eve". "Off-year" and "off-year" are two concepts. For example, this year's New Year's Eve is the 29th of the twelfth lunar month, so the "off-year" is the 28th of the twelfth lunar month.

During the holidays in northern China, people eat jiaozi, while Shanghai follows the custom of Suzhou when delivering stoves. Jiaozi, who is called "Xie Zao Tuan Zi", is generally eaten in different ways. Legend has it that the 24th of the twelfth lunar month is the day when the Kitchen God goes to heaven to play.

On the evening of the 23rd, every household will "send stoves" and "sacrifice stoves" to celebrate the New Year. In Shanghai, people will use the statue of the kitchen god to provide wine and fruit, as well as water chestnut, seaweed, good fish and good meat on the kitchen stove. When delivering the stove, provide candy ingots made of caramel, let him stick to his teeth after eating, so that he can not speak clearly, so that he can say less or speak ill of the world.

A small incident

As for the "New Year's Eve", everyone can make preparations for the Spring Festival, such as buying new year's goods, making glutinous rice balls with flour, and some families will make their own rice cakes. Tangyuan means "round and round", and rice cakes mean "happy" and "high every year". In addition, preparing new clothes, buying Spring Festival couplets and pasting "door gods" are also common customs of Shanghainese for the New Year.