Eat glutinous rice balls on the "Winter Festival" The winter solstice is called "Zhiri", commonly known as the "Winter Festival". On this morning, every household eats glutinous rice balls or glutinous rice cakes. Eating glutinous rice cakes and glutinous rice balls symbolizes reunion and joy. There is a saying among the people that "eating winter solstice balls means growing one year older." Drying soy sauce meat and eel. Wenzhou people are accustomed to drying soy sauce meat and eel around the eleventh month of the lunar calendar. Soaking raw lean pork, raw chicken and duck in soy sauce, and then drying them for consumption has a unique flavor. Pounding rice cakes Pounding rice cakes is also called "pounding sugar cakes." The steamed glutinous rice is pounded into cakes. If it is placed in printing plates with different patterns, it can be pressed into sweet cakes with patterns such as peony, peach, Kuixing, God of Wealth, No. 1 scholar, as well as carp, unicorn, etc., that is, It means promotion every year. On the 24th day of the 12th lunar month, every household will "worship the stove Buddha". It is said that this day is the day when the Kitchen God goes to heaven to report the merits and demerits of mortals to the Jade Emperor. It is said that the Kitchen God is greedy and his mouth will be sealed as long as he is given sugar. Therefore, maltose is indispensable for the Kitchen God to say bad things in front of the Jade Emperor when offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God, so that the Kitchen God will not say bad things in front of the Jade Emperor. Around the 24th day of the 12th lunar month every year, following the custom of "sweeping the new" in the twelfth lunar month, every household in Wenzhou sweeps away dust and dirt, whitewashes the walls and decorates the rooms, washes utensils and dries things, and prepares to welcome the spring in a clean manner. Posting Spring Festival Couplets On New Year's Eve, spring festival couplets are posted on the doors, pillars and windows of each house with red paper, commonly known as "door couplets". Four words are posted on the lintel , commonly known as "horizontal banner", the word "good luck" is posted on a single door. The main house, hall, study, as well as pig, sheep, and cattle pens are all posted with spring couplets with different contents, most of which pray for good luck, peace and a good harvest in all industries. The people of Wenzhou are very particular about eating "New Year's Eve wine", also known as "New Year's Eve dinner". Eating New Year's Eve wine is very auspicious. In the past, ten cinnabar high-footed red bowls would be used at the banquet, holding ten kinds of cold dishes, called "Ten Complete". In addition to chicken and meat, there must be peanuts (seeds), oranges (good luck), carp (jumping the dragon gate), tofu (cleaning the house), etc., and each bowl must have a round piece of thinly sliced carrot head on the top to show good luck. The first day of the first lunar month is the opening gun. In the early morning, the first thing every household has to do is to rush to fire the "opening cannon". The whole city is filled with the sound of firecrackers, symbolizing the farewell of the old and the ushering in of the new and the welcoming of wealth, commonly known as "welcoming the year". New Year's greetings On the morning of the first day of the first lunar month, the younger generation will kowtow to the elders in order at home, which is called "greeting the new year". From the second day of the first lunar month, neighbors and relatives and friends will visit each other to pay respects. Wear new clothes On the first day of the first lunar month, people have to wear new clothes, which also means farewell to the old and the welcoming of the new. Because the color red symbolizes auspiciousness in the folks, children wear bright red clothes, young women are of course covered in red, and even old women wear bright red skirts. Information source: Wenzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Tourism Information source: Wenzhou Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Film and Television