Regional Annals: Documenting the local customs of my hometown, from language to daily life, capturing the bustling vitality of the Lingnan region.
Whenever the Spring Festival approaches, friends around me often sigh, “The festive atmosphere is getting weaker nowadays.” But as a Cantonese who grew up in western Guangdong (Yuexi), I don’t really feel this way. Because in my memory, you never have to deliberately look for the festive flavor of the hometown Spring Festival—as soon as the 28th of the twelfth lunar month arrives, the deafening sound of firecrackers, the sizzling sound of deep-frying in the kitchen, and the busy figures of the elders will undeniably pull you into that steamingly enthusiastic New Year atmosphere.
Many people’s impression of the Cantonese New Year might be stuck at Guangzhou’s “visiting the flower market,” eating egg twists (Daan Gaan), and the pragmatic “Red Packets (Lai See).” But the New Year in Yuexi (Maoming, Zhanjiang, Yangjiang area) is often much more vigorous and hardcore than in the Guangfu region.
Today, I want to follow the timeline and chat with everyone about how we Yuexi people celebrate the New Year.
The 28th of the Twelfth Lunar Month: Washing Away the Dirt and Endlessly Frying “He” (籺)#
“On the 28th of the twelfth month, wash away the dirt!” This phrase is like the starting line of the Spring Festival.
“Dirt (Laap Taap)” in Cantonese means filthy or untidy. On this day, the whole family mobilizes to thoroughly clean the house inside and out, and even the old things we usually can’t bear to throw away are ruthlessly cleared out. In my understanding, this is not just for cleanliness, but more like a psychological ritual—sweeping away the bad luck and unhappiness of the past year, and making clean space to welcome the good luck of the new year.
Besides the spring cleaning, the most bustling place at home during this time is the kitchen. Guangfu people are used to “opening the oil wok” to fry egg twists and sesame balls (Jian Dui), while in our Yuexi, it is more common to soak rice, pound flour, and make various kinds of “He” (籺, a type of rice cake), Mu Ye Jia (wood leaf dumplings), and Nin Gou (New Year cake). When I was a kid, I always liked to gather around the oil wok, watching the dough expand and turn golden in the boiling oil, the air filled with sweet and sticky smells. The elders said this is called “oily and moist, a house full of gold and silver.”
New Year’s Eve: No Chicken, No Feast, and Remembering to “Thank the Kitchen God”#
Thanking the Kitchen God: Sweet Bribery
A few days before the reunion dinner or on New Year’s Eve itself, the most important family ritual is worship, such as “Thanking the Kitchen God.” People buy sweet sugarcane and slab sugar to offer on the stove, so that the Kitchen God gets a taste of sweetness to “report good things to heaven and bless peace on earth.” This slightly human and humorous way of “bribing” the deities is very interesting. Some families along the coast will also specially worship the Earth God and the Sea God, praying for safe sea voyages in the coming year.
Reunion Dinner: Good Omens on the Tip of the Tongue
On New Year’s Eve, the main event is definitely the reunion dinner. The Cantonese New Year’s Eve dinner is a large-scale scene of homophonic puns. But whether there is “Braised Pork Trotters with Fat Choy” (meaning wealth is at hand) or “Steamed Fish” (meaning surplus every year) on the table, the most central position on the dining table always belongs to that plate of raw-chopped White Cut Chicken with crispy skin and smooth meat.
Ever since I can remember, no matter where we eat the New Year’s Eve dinner, it is absolutely “no chicken, no feast.” A good chicken, dipped in a specially mixed sand ginger soy sauce, is the deepest memory of the Spring Festival taste.
The First and Second Days of the Lunar New Year: Opening Firecrackers and “Walking the Great Luck”#
On the morning of the first day, we do not sleep in, because there is the task of “opening the door.” Early in the morning, after burning incense at the ancestors’ shrine and adding oil to the long-life lamp, a long string of fierce firecrackers must be lit at the door. This is called the “opening firecrackers”; the red paper scraps all over the ground symbolize a “full house of red” and an auspicious start.
Throughout the first day, the emphasis is on “Walking the Great Luck.” We put on new clothes and go out to stroll or take an outing in an auspicious direction, meaning to “take strides, change luck, and generate wealth.” This day, what children look forward to most is, of course, “getting Lai See (Red Packets).” I have always liked the Cantonese red packet culture, which doesn’t compete in thickness; five or ten yuan isn’t too little, fifty or a hundred is considered generous. It mainly focuses on human connection and a good omen. A crisp “Kung Hei Fat Choy” (Wishing you prosperity) brings a smiling “Lai Lai See See” (Wishing you good luck).
The Second Day’s Opening of the Year and “Welcoming the Son-in-law Day”
On the second day, married daughters will bring their husbands and children back to their maiden homes to pay New Year calls. In Yuexi, an extremely sumptuous “Opening Year Meal” must also be eaten on this day, sometimes even grander than New Year’s Eve.
As for the “Red Mouth (Chik Kau)” on the third day, the traditional saying is that it’s easy to get into arguments with people. So this day often becomes a “legitimate stay-at-home day” for the socially anxious, neither visiting nor paying New Year calls, just lying comfortably at home all day to recover from the exhaustion accumulated over the past few days of the Spring Festival.
Our Moment of Soul Awakening: “Nianli is Grander Than the New Year”#
If the festive atmosphere in Guangfu gradually winds down by the Lantern Festival, then for us Yuexi people, the Spring Festival carnival has just begun. This brings us to the grandest festival in our lives—Nianli (Annual Custom).
In Maoming and Zhanjiang, the older generation often says a very domineering phrase: “Nianli is grander than the New Year.”
“Nianli” is not a specific day, but stretches from the second day of the first lunar month all the way to the end of the second lunar month. Every village has its own exclusive “Nianli day.” On that day, the countryside will erupt with the most astonishing vitality of the year:
- Parading the Deities and Piao Se (Floating Colors): The village will invite the enshrined Lord of the Realm or Madam Xian out of the temple to parade through the whole village. Gongs and drums are deafening, and colorful flags flutter. In places like Wuchuan in Zhanjiang, there are also the aesthetically thrilling “Piao Se” and the majestic “Human Dragon Dance,” which is simply a grand carnival at the level of intangible cultural heritage.
- Setting up the Jiao (Altar): Villagers will set up long offering tables in front of their homes or in the open spaces of the village, filled with whole white cut chickens, large pieces of pork, and fruits, to welcome the deity parade and pray for good weather throughout the year.
- Eating Nianli: This is the part I find most humane and generous. On the day of Nianli, every household sets up a grand flowing banquet (Liushui Xi) to entertain guests from all over. Even strangers passing by, as long as you want to eat and sit down, the hosts will welcome you warmly. In our area, the more guests come to eat, and the more they “eat the host penniless,” the more the host feels honored and that the coming year will be even more prosperous.
Conclusion#
From only caring about eating sweets and setting off firecrackers when I was a kid, to now beginning to understand the clan ties and cultural context behind these customs, I increasingly feel that the Spring Festival in Yuexi has a fascinatingly complex temperament.
Half of it is in the pragmatic and wealth-seeking “good omens” on the tip of the tongue, and the other half is in the awe and carnival towards heaven, earth, deities, and clan traditions. If you have the chance in the future, welcome to visit my hometown during the first lunar month. Listen to the deafening gongs and drums, eat a Nianli flowing banquet, and you will definitely discover: So the festive flavor here has always been boiling.