From snacks to calligraphy, traditional Chinese culture is being showcased at an ongoing temple fair in downtown Beijing, as part of the city's Spring Festival celebrations. Originating about 400 years ago, the Changdian temple fair is being held on a 800-meter-long street home to stores offering a good range of Chinese calligraphy, paintings, antiques and other cultural products.
Besides, during the fair, festive items including lanterns and pinwheels, and streets food such as "tanghulu", a traditional Chinese snack of sugar-coated fruits, have reminded people of good old days, according to visitor of older age.
"I used to come here often when I was a kid. I brought a very small amount of money to Changdian and bought a bunch of hawthorn fruits and hung them around my neck," said Ms. Liu, a visitor.
Younger visitors said they strongly feel the festive vibe at the fair.
"Walking on this street, I see red lanterns, glazed roof tiles, and people's happy faces. This is what exactly the Spring Festival means," said Ms. Zhao, a visitor.
At the close of 2024, UNESCO added the Spring Festival to its Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.
To promote the Spring Festival, most stores on the street, which usually shut their doors during the holiday, have been encouraged to remain open this year.
"The joint efforts of all sides can increase the festive atmosphere. Each store has something unique. In this way, we can further promote our traditional culture," said Cheng Yuan, president of Beijing Chunshu Street chamber of commerce.
Many stores engage visitors in trying traditional techniques such as brush- and ink-making and rubbing to copy an inscription of the Chinese character Fu meaning "good fortune" or "happiness".
"Writing Spring Festival couplets during the Spring Festival is actually a kind of cultural inheritance and a custom," said Wei Guangyao, inheritor of ink-making technique.
In addition, visitors said they have been impressed by shows telling the story of brush, ink, paper and ink stone, which are used in Chinese calligraphy and called "Four Treasures of the Study".Visitors could also enjoy themselves by listening to cross-talks, clapper talks, Peking opera, and other performing arts at the fair.
"I was so excited to watch them performing. Being together with these young people makes us feel we are still young," said Zuo Fengxia, a visitor.
An official said efforts have been made to use the fair as a platform to showcase traditional Chinese culture, including Beijing culture.
"We try to showcase the festive atmosphere and the unique Beijing culture of the Changdian temple fair. We try to show traditional Chinese culture and Beijing culture to every visitor to the Changdian temple fair, and pass the culture to the next generation," said Jin Zhen, director of the Cultural and Tourism Bureau of Xicheng District.
For Chinese across the world, the Spring Festival is a time for family reunions, festive celebrations, holiday shopping and diverse cultural and tourism activities. It fell on Wednesday this year.
Traditional Chinese culture showcased at Beijing's temple fair
