Across China: Chinese take a bite of spring

Chinese people lined their stomaches with traditional food on Thursday to "bite-the-spring," hoping a propitious beginning to the year will bring good luck all year long.

Thursday was the beginning of Lichun, when the sun reaches the celestial longitude of 315 degrees. It is considered the beginning of spring and is the first of the 24 solar terms of the Chinese lunisolar calendar, each of which lasts 15 days. On this day people eat radishes and spring pancakes. Chinese New Year falls on Feb. 8 this year and is generally celebrated with family banquets.

In northern China, Chang Suqin prepared radishes for the children at her kindergarten in Handan City, Hebei Province. "Eating spicy radishes at this particular day shows you can have the courage to achieve things in the coming year," she said.

When Chang was young, radishes were sold everywhere at the beginning of Lichun, so even poor families could buy them for their children to seek blessings.

At Huguosi Snack, a Beijing restaurant chain known for traditional food, more than 35,000 spring rolls were sold through its 50 outlets.

These rolls are stuffed with mashed beans or vegetables. Supermarkets are overflowing with bean sprouts at this time of year, the most popular stuffing.

In Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, a spring roll contest was held on Wednesday. Contestants serve the spring rolls they make to their parents in a gesture of filial piety, an important aspect family life in China.

In addition to radishes and spring rolls, steamed bread and bean buns sell like hotcakes as New Year draws near. Liuquanju snack stores in Beijing sell 200,00 bean buns every day, according to local newspapers.

Apart from "bite-the-spring," in some rural parts "spank-the-spring" is also a tradition. A "cow" made of paper, mud or clay, is beaten by farmers with a whip, driving out the cattle's winter laziness.

In the past. officials usually held a ceremony in tribute to the god in charge of plant growth on Lichun, said Shang Jie, of Tianjin folklore museum.

Shang said all these practices on Lichun demonstrate the importance of spring to an agricultural society.

"People in many places still observe these traditions today, hoping for a good harvest, a prosperous economy and a harmonious, peaceful life," he said. Endi