Every solar calendar, April 4th to 5th, is the traditional Qingming Festival, one of the most important traditional Chinese festivals and dating back to over 2,500 years. Ancestor worship is the basic theme of Qingming Festival. Moreover it is the time when the beautiful spring and sunshine come and trees and grass start to turn green, the amusement custom like outing and excursion has been passed on from generation to generation. In the just passed Qingming Festival, there is a sense of fashion spotted in this traditional festival.

    Play Cuju, draw eggs and make kites etc.

    Playing Cuju, drawing eggs, planting willow branches, and making kites. Residents from Road Zhuhai sub-district office, Shinan District, Qingdao gathered together in Yan Dao Shan Park to experience fashionable “Qingdao folk customs”. They learned about traditional folk culture and felt the fun and novelty of participation by personally making traditional articles, joining the traditional games, and watching folk-custom performance.

    On the morning of the festival, many residents took their children to the little square in Yan Dao Shan Park where the stage was set up and many items for experiencing traditional Qingming have been prepared including eggs, kites and paper-cut. A performance team in Han Chinese clothing has also been invited. Folk customs related to the Qingming Festival including planting willow, excursion, playing Cuju and dancing were presented by performance. “Besides ancestor worship, there are so many playable items,” Mr. Yang, a resident, said. He also said that he only knew people that usually worship their ancestors, have an outing in spring, eat eggs, after joining the activity he realized there were also flying kites and drawing eggs and he felt like he was back to childhood when he saw children paint colors onto egg shells.

    Afterwards the residents were divided into different groups and played the traditional Cuju. They also followed folk-custom experts to learn how to make kites. A staff from Road Zhuhai sub-district office, Shinan District said: “It is very good to let people know about the traditional folk customs. Let our residents embrace the tradition, experience folk customs, promote and develop outstanding family traditions and instructions. We can spend a more meaningful traditional festival.” (Sun Qimeng)

    (1. Residents are making kites and drawing their own favorite patterns.

    2. In Yan Dao Shan Park, a group of youth in Han Chinese clothing showed the residents the traditional customs including folding a willow branch as a gift when parting with friends, a group of good friends having a spring outing and playing Cuju.)

    Foreign students came to Qingdao to search for “Chinese flavor”

    At 13 pm of April 2nd, 15 teachers and students from American California public school district came to the handcraft memory exhibition hall located on the Fuxin Lu street to learn and feel traditional Chinese cultures from famous folk artists in Qingdao and intangible cultural heritages including the New Year wood-block print, paper-cut and Chinese shadow puppetry.

    These folk artists taught foreign students step by step how to make these folk art wares and operation skills. Lu Han, the chairman of Shibei District Folk Artists Association, specially took out an engraving of a New Year wood-block print he personally collects to show personally these foreign students how to make New Year wood-block print.

    When the music sounded, Liu Shangyi and his wife waved the shadow puppets in their hands and performed behind the screen “Turtle and Crane”, a traditional drama of Chinese shadow puppetry. The shadow puppets, which were just dull, seemed to be endowed with magical life. All visiting teachers and students opened up their eyes and were greatly astounded and from time to time exclaimed over the incomparable wonder of traditional Chinese folk arts. (Zhao Jianpeng) ( The folk artists taught foreign students step by step how to make the New Year wood-block print.)

    Oaring and casting a fishing net, experience the ancient fishing way dating back to Ming Dynasty

    Watch the time-honored mysterious sacrifice ceremony; learn the ancient way of fishing dating back to Ming Dynasty, boating in the rippling bay etc. On April 2nd, Ding You “Yu Zu Lang Jun Culture Festival” was held in Han Jia folk customs village located in Hongdao Street, Hongdao Economic Zone, Qingdao. The only fishing ancestor sacrifice ceremony in China coasts, the vivid scene of ancient fishermen wearing Bang (footwear uppers) and fishing in the sea, authentic fishery and salt culture are all unfolded. Besides folk cruise and sacrifice activities with distinctive fisherman’s family characteristics, Han Jia folk customs village has prepared 9 folk culture activities namely oaring and boating, casting a net to fish, reading classic Chinese literature, carrying flowers and campfire party, folk opera performance, calligraphy and traditional Chinese painting show, guessing lantern riddles, admiring beautiful flowers and digging edible wild herbs and “intangible cultural heritage” business fairs and sales. Tourists lingered on without any thought of leaving. ( Song Xinhua)

    (Citizens are experiencing the ancient way of fishing in Han Jia folk customs village in Hongdao street.)