People across China celebrate the traditional Laba Festival on Monday, which falls on the eighth day of the 12th month on the Chinese calendar, typically with cooking and consuming Laba porridge.
Also known as "eight-treasure congee", Laba porridge is usually made with eight or more ingredients, including mixed grains, beans and nuts, lotus seeds, peanuts, dried fruit, representing good luck.
But in Jiaozanshi Village of Nanjing, the provincial capital of Jiangsu in east China, people not only cook and consume Laba porridge themselves and offer them to visitors on this festival, but also put up tofu banquets and stage a spectacular dragon dance.
As the saying goes, "the Laba Festival is followed by the Chinese New Year". In the village, the celebration of Laba is the prelude to the Spring Festival, which falls on February 17 this year.
An important part of the Laba celebration in the village is making tofu. The villagers believe that "to grind tofu on Laba, and you'll have smooth sailing in the coming year." True to tradition, villagers rolled up their sleeves to hand-grind soybeans, crafting tofu from scratch and frying up golden tofu balls, each dish a fragrant symbol of good fortune for the year ahead.
"Experiencing these local customs in person, you feel more keenly the festive atmosphere," said visitor Liu Dan after trying the traditional soybean grinding.
The village celebration went beyond food. Local artisans displayed their skills in traditional crafts, from spinning tops and intricate knot-tying to the delicate art of lantern-making. Visitors also had the chance to try their hand at paper-cutting for horse-themed lanterns and pick up lucky calligraphy scrolls and Spring Festival couplets to take home.
As dusk fell, the village's most exciting celebrations began: the Dongquan Horse Lantern and Zhang Family Dragon Lantern parades took center stage to the beat of drums and gongs. The Zhang Family Dragon Lantern, with a history of 500 years, made an impressive entrance with a team of nearly 100 performers.
"There are more young people participating in the performance this year. We mean to push the youngsters out to forge them into caretakers of the traditions. With the art and craft carried on generation after generation, it has sustained to this year, carrying our villagers' expectations for a better life," said Huang Pingping, head of Zhang Family Dragon Lantern performance team.
Nanjing village celebrates Laba Festival with vibrant folk activities
