Fuzhou, Feb. 9 (Xinhua) -- A cultural and entertainment market in a thousand-year-old village.
Xinhua News Agency reporter Deng Qianqian.
The Spring Festival is coming, and the countryside is full of New Year's flavor. Houguan Village, a thousand-year-old village in Fuzhou, Fujian Province, is very lively. What is different from the past is that the villagers not only celebrate the Spring Festival with their own homes, but also open their doors, put out special delicacies, and take to the stage to participate in the "Village Evening" performance, and celebrate the New Year with the villagers and tourists.
Fuzhou's authentic fried cake and eight-fruit rice are a must-have for Chinese New Year's Eve rice! "The handmade fish balls are big and fragrant! "Come and try the seafood pot batter!" ”…Following the shouting prestige, the whole ancient street is full of all kinds of snacks and local products, and the villagers along the street have set up stalls at the door of their homes to sell traditional snacks, local products, flowers, etc.
"Post-80s" Wu Jiaxian worked hard in front of the stall, he held a spatula in a large pot and constantly stirred the sweet potato starch paste, and then stir-fried vigorously until translucent, and finally sprinkled with peanuts, melon seeds and sesame seeds, a fried cake was completed. During the production process, tourists from other places were curious, and many people lined up to buy.
The market is full of people, and at most it is necessary to fry ten pots a day, and the handmade New Year's snacks are more 'ancient', and they are quite popular recently. Wu Jiaxian said. He grew up in the village and worked as a chef when he went out, and took advantage of the "east wind" of the revival of the ancient street, so he returned to the village to open a stall, and the whole family was busy and happy together.
The villagers sighed: I haven't seen such a strong New Year's atmosphere in the village for a long time, and the "happy hometown" in my memory is back.
Houguan was once synonymous with Fuzhou, and Houguan Village was the administrative center of Houguan County more than 1,300 years ago. This kilometer-long ancient street in the village was once a major market on the banks of the Min River. In the process of urbanization, the ancient street market once declined, but after rescue protection and repair, it was reopened last year.
The two-month series of activities of the Houguan Cultural Festival, which began at the end of December last year, brought the ancient street back to its prosperity and broadened the channels for villagers to increase their income at their doorsteps. Wang Guozhi, secretary of the party committee of Houguan Village, said that the villagers' pockets are bulging, and spiritual and cultural life is also indispensable.
For the first time this year, Houguan Village held the "Village Evening", and the village stage at Gujiekou was decorated with lights, and performances such as Fujian opera, intangible cultural heritage displays, songs, and dances were overwhelming, and more than half of them were spontaneously rehearsed by villagers.
Women with an average age of about 60 years old presented the dances "Happy Heaven and Earth" and "Hou Guan is My Home". "We are a square dance team in the village, which has been established for nearly 10 years, and we used to go to various places to participate in competitions. Yang Huiling, the leader of the Houguan Charm Dance Team, said.
A group of children also took to the stage to play the flute "Bless You", which is the village flute ensemble. "We gathered the children in the village to rehearse for a while, and the children were very excited to participate in the 'Village Evening' performance. *Teacher Zheng Xinyi said that as a local, she is very happy to be able to contribute to the literary and artistic cause of her hometown.
The activities of the Houguan Cultural Festival continue, and the ancient street market is bustling non-stop. On the fifth day of the first lunar month, the "God of Wealth" will give out "auspicious red envelopes" in Houguan Ancient Street; At the scene of the "Hou Guan's Banquet" on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, many Fujian opera characters will also perform the thousand-year-old story for everyone in the ancient street. (ENDS).