The quaint courtyard building is newly decorated, and colorful lanterns are hung high, implying good luck and good fortune.
"Biting spring" is a traditional and special custom of the Northern New Year.
With the theme of "biting spring", Qingdao's "Radish, Lantern Festival, Sugar Ball Club" returned after a four-year absence, and opened in advance during the Spring Festival holiday, landing for the first time in the "Dabaodao" block, which has witnessed the century-old commercial history of the city. Citizens and tourists from the south to the north taste rock sugar gourd (sugar ball) here, taste the radish Lantern Festival, "bite" out the sweet taste of the year, and have a different taste of happiness in their hearts.
The grand return of the New Year is full.
The newly decorated booths were neatly arranged, and the booth wall cloth was decorated with the red color of the New Year's celebration.
On the occasion of the Spring Festival, Qingdao's Dabao Island Cultural and Leisure District is displaying colorful flags. The quaint courtyard building is newly decorated, and colorful lanterns are hung high, implying good luck and good fortune. Window flowers, couplets, New Year's paintings, and various decorations dot every corner of the block, and the newly decorated stalls are neatly arranged, and the booth wall cloth is mainly colored with the red of the New Year's celebration, which is full of New Year's flavor.
I grew up on Dabao Island when I was a child, and I often followed my father to sell candy balls on a pole, and then I have been participating in sugar balls in Haeunan, and this year I felt very close to the place where I lived as a child. On the fourth day of the Lunar New Year, Gao Shixiang, a famous descendant of Gaojia Sugar Ball in Shandong, came to the "Gaojia Sugar Ball" booth early in the morning to place the fiery hawthorn strings and boil syrup in advance to prepare for the Dabaodao New Year Market that opened on the same day. He told reporters very excitedly that he had prepared 30 tons of the best hawthorn in the season in advance to welcome the sugar ball event after a four-year absence.
The Radish Club, the Lantern Festival Mountain Fair and the Sugar Ball Club are the three major Spring Festival gatherings in the history of Qingdao City, among which the Sugar Ball Club and Haiyun'an Temple Fair, which have been inherited for hundreds of years, have the longest history and the most momentum.
Since 2013, the Radish Club, the Lantern Festival Mountain Club and the Sugar Ball Club have been co-organized, called the "Radish Lantern Festival, Sugar Ball Club", which has become an important folk festival in Qingdao New Year.
Since the first Sugar Ball, Gaojia Sugar Ball has never been absent. Gaojia Sugar Ball is one of the most popular stalls of the Sugar Ball Club every year because of its variety, sweet and crispy characteristics, and its production skills have also been rated as the intangible cultural heritage of Shandong Province.
Affected by the epidemic, the high-profile island city Spring Festival big IP radishes, Lantern Festival and sugar ball will be postponed in 2020. After a long wait of four years, the grand event returns in the Spring Festival of the Year of the Dragon.
There are a variety of rock sugar gourds on the stalls.
Seeing more and more tourists gathered around, Gao Shixiang performed the unique stunt of Gao's sugar ball "Snow Red" for citizens and tourists on the spot, he held a string of good hawthorns, skillfully rolled on the surface of a pot of boiled sugar liquid that exuded a sweet smell, stained with dense white sugar foam, and then rubbed the palms of both hands relatively quickly, and the sugar balls scattered countless white sugar threads, winning the applause of the surrounding audience.
In the childhood memories of many Qingdao people, the types of rock sugar gourds on the stalls are rich and colorful, snacks from all over the country and even the world gather here, folk artists have shown their skills at this time, not to mention activities such as guessing lantern riddles and folk performances. Rock sugar yam beans, brushed maltose, straw grasshoppers, etc., are all indelible memories of childhood, and all of them are back.
At that time, it was really crowded, shoulder to shoulder, my family and I were separated, I cried on the side of the road, or a police uncle gave me a rock sugar gourd to make me laugh, and also helped me find my family ......Xu Jia, who left Qingdao to work in Beijing for many years, recalled the first time she participated in the sugar ball club in Haiyun Nunnery when she was in elementary school more than 30 years ago, saying, "After many years, I brought my family to visit the sugar ball club again, and it felt very good." ”
In the festive atmosphere, citizens and tourists strolled to the characteristic market of Dabao Island, and people felt the warmth of the folk assembly again. There are all kinds of delicacies displayed on the stalls, including traditional sugar paintings, noodle figures, rock sugar gourds, creative snacks, pastries, etc., as well as intangible cultural heritage inheritors showing their unique skills on the spot. In the block, there are also special activities such as lantern festivals, garden parties, special markets, New Year Bao Baolong parades, immersive light and shadow shows, etc., attracting passers-by to stop frequently, feel the customs and fun of traditional festivals, and bring the prosperity and sweetness of the New Year to family and friends.
It is still the old street with the most youthful flavor, and the old temple fair also has the most childhood memories. Yuan Pengju, an aboriginal of Dabao Island, took his grandson to taste food, taste folk customs, and appreciate intangible cultural heritage, and praised the experience of the market.
The once prosperous place is re-blooming.
At the beginning of the day, the colorful lanterns decorate the neighborhood like daylight.
At the beginning of the day, the colorful lanterns decorate the neighborhood like daylight. A chicly decorated tourist shop on the side of the street that the reporter passed by was still crowded with people. One, two, three, in just ten minutes, the guests seem to want to step on the threshold of the small shop.
Seriously, we've been in Qingdao for more than 20 years, and we've never seen this kind of traffic during the busiest days of the 90s. Chen Wanjiang, the owner of the shop, said. The store is not large, but the goods are dazzling and varied. Walking into the corner of the shop, the boxes of beauty and hair products placed on the glass partition are particularly eye-catching. It turned out that Boss Chen didn't start by opening a small shop.
In 1996, Chen Wanjiang from Ruian, Wenzhou, came to Qingdao with his wife to do business. At that time, there was a saying: "Break Qingdao to Bao Island". Sifang Road, Huangdao Road, Haibo Road, Zhifu Road, Yizhou Road, Licun Road, Cangkou Road, Boshan Road, Pingdu Road, Weixian Road, Jimo Road. Dabao Island is a commercial area where Chinese gather since the opening of Qingdao, and it is still no less lively than the prosperous neighborhoods of Shanghai and Tianjin until the nineties of the last century, which not only carries the beautiful and unforgettable memories of several generations of Qingdao people after the opening of the port, but also was a gathering place for many foreign businessmen. As the port economy drives the development of Qingdao city, Dabao Island was once densely populated and prosperous in commerce. At that time, almost all of the people who did hair products business and beauty salons were from Jiangsu and Zhejiang, so Chen Wanjiang and his fellow villagers did beauty salons on Gaomi Road, which was known as "Beauty Salon Products Street" at that time.
Dabao Island has been transformed from a dilapidated century-old town into a historical and cultural district integrating culture, leisure and commerce.
Today, Dabao Island has transformed from a dilapidated century-old city into a historical and cultural district integrating culture, leisure and commerce.
The first crowd in the holidays of Dabao Island, the barbecue on Sifang Road is fragrant, and the first generation of "10,000 households" on Jimo Road is drunk and gold-......Chen Wanjiang, who witnessed all this, told reporters that the recent hit TV series "Flowers" wrote about the prosperity of Shanghai Yellow River Road in the first ten years of the last century, and Da Bao Island was not much worse back then.
Chen Wanjiang and his wife bought a house in Qingdao with their own efforts and took root, but with the changes of the times, the business is getting worse, Chen Wanjiang said: "In the early days, this area was very prosperous, but with the early nineties of the last century, the city moved eastward, the Sifang Road market was canceled, and the prosperity of the small commodity wholesale market on Jimo Road was not there, and the passenger flow here became less and less. Later, when ** emerged, people pursued to buy brand products, and they went directly to the barber shop to do a set of processes when they did their hair, and gradually there was no business on weekdays. With the revival of the old city, in 2022, Chen Wanjiang will open a small tourist shop.
Business has been exceptionally good this year, with turnover during the Chinese New Year being about three times that of normal days. A lot of people come here to check in. Chen Wanjiang said happily. After the transformation of the old city, Dabao Island has now transformed from a dilapidated century-old town into a historical and cultural district integrating culture, leisure and commerce.
On the third day of the Lunar New Year, it is the day of the traditional return to their parents' homes in the north, and the century-old building "Qingdao Restaurant" in the Dabaodao Cultural and Leisure District held a theme activity called "Returning to My Mother's Home to Make Dumplings", inviting many old neighbors in the historical city to "revisit the old place", and the old residents returned to the places where they lived decades ago, and stopped to watch and take pictures. "It's like the maiden home of all our old Qingdao people, and on the third day of the Lunar New Year, we invite the citizens to come back and have a look, get together to make dumplings, chat about homely things, tell stories from the past, and talk about today's new changes, which is so meaningful." Wang Jianxiu, an old neighbor, said, "The changes are too great, and it hasn't come for many years, which is really eye-catching." ”
Thick smoke and fire and new vitality of development.
The Year of the Dragon element can be found throughout the historic district.
During the Spring Festival, Dabao Island and other historical districts have become "check-in holy places" for foreign tourists during the Spring Festival, which is in line with the preferences of young people, and the folk customs and fashion that integrate modern technology have achieved a perfect integration in Qingdao's historic districts, and the playability has doubled. Classical and modern, fashion and tradition, beauty and romance rise in the romantic fireworks.
The reporter noticed that the elements of the Year of the Dragon are all over the historical city, the "Izumo Dragon" hanging high on the eaves, stepping on auspicious clouds and looking back and raising its head, the "Guardian Dragon" that means fortune and blessing, the beautiful hair fluttering "Wandering Clouds and Surprise Dragon" echoes with the red lanterns of the Woodsplitting Courtyard, and the "Winding Dragon" with the dragon body "swimming" on the wall and running through the building, the image is simple and cute, and the cute "Dragon Howling" "Dragon Lantern Lantern" "Dragon Boo", as well as the hidden "Good Color Dragon" similar to the blind box all cater to the preferences of Generation Z young people. The well-set immersive "Dragon Hunt Tour" made it interesting for young tourists who like City Walk, and frequently took photos, took photos and uploaded them to social networks, which quickly went viral.
The historic district brings together a variety of special theme color activities such as lantern festivals, garden parties, special markets, Chinese New Year Bao Baolong parade, immersive light and shadow shows, etc., which make people overwhelmed with year-round elements throughout the historic district.
The organizers carefully planned a variety of novel ways to play, Chinese and foreign food convergence also make citizens and tourists have a feeling of "can't play" and "can't eat", the historical district brings together a variety of colorful theme color activities such as lantern festivals, garden parties, characteristic markets, New Year Bao Baolong parade, immersive light and shadow shows, etc., which make people overwhelmed; Time-honored brands such as Chunhelou and Pichai Courtyard, senior delicacies such as Sister Wang's barbecue and Meidal and some newly opened Internet celebrity drink shops and snack windows are dizzying.
Technological elements also bring surprises to tourists, and the 3D large screen of Parkson Building Internet celebrity has added IP customization for the Spring Festival**; "Prosperous as You Wish" city travel photography and New Year drama; Based on the real historical figures, events and customs of Dabao Island, the light and shadow fantasy live performance created by the well-known local visual creative team "Renjia Seeing", Shen's "Guangxingli Qiguang Fantasy" light and shadow fantasy live performance is based on the real historical figures, events and customs of Dabao Island, and skillfully integrates a variety of intangible cultural heritage elements such as filmmakers, paper-cutting, fish lanterns, rock sugar gourds, etc., combined with the latest digital visual arts and live-action theater performances. The reporter noticed that the online tourism services for the Spring Festival are very in place, with digital service platform applets and official Douyin accounts, and tourists only need to touch the screen with their fingertips to grasp all the travel information including eating, drinking, and even parking suggestions.
The thriving Chinese New Year cultural tourism consumption not only creates a lively festival atmosphere and reproduces the thick smoke and fire of the century-old street, but also shows the new vitality of the development of the historic urban area.
Meng Tianyun, a professor at Qingdao University and a social and cultural scholar, told the "China Report" reporter that the historical district is the cultural context of the city, and also drives the pulse of development.
Dai Bin, president of the China Tourism Research Institute, told reporters that tourism for the New Year is becoming a new folk custom for Chinese, and excellent traditional culture and intangible cultural heritage such as traditional temple fairs, amusement parks, and lantern viewing are still the basic needs of the Spring Festival tourism market.
Written and photographed by Wang Zhe, reporter of China Report.
Review: Zhang Lijuan.