Beijing, February 22 (Xinhua) -- Feature: New Voices of Folk Customs Greet the New Spring: A Two-Way Journey Between Traditional Genes and Contemporary Vitality

By Xinhua Writers Yu Junjie, Zhou Wenchong, and Chen Aiping

The galloping Bingwu Year of the Horse has arrived, with ancient folk customs leaping into the view of a new era with a youthful stance. As New Year's fireworks illuminate cities and villages, and as traditional culture is rejuvenated through the passage of time, a "two-way journey" between traditional genes and contemporary vitality is vividly unfolding across the vast lands of China during the 2026 New Spring.

Tracing Roots: Cultural Heritage in the New Spring

On the fifth day of the first lunar month, a shout of "Kiln opening, good fortune!" pierced through the village lanes in front of the Qianshu Dragon Kiln in Dingshu Town, Yixing City, Jiangsu Province. Kiln workers swung hammers to break the sealed door, presenting pottery pieces tempered by the kiln's fire. One after another, dragon and lion dances, sacrificial prayers for blessings, and demonstrations of kiln techniques took the stage. Pottery enthusiasts from various places arrived, drawn by the event, to join this New Year's gathering.

The Qianshu Dragon Kiln, first fired during the Jiajing era of the Ming Dynasty, snakes down the mountain like a recumbent dragon. It still continues the ancient firing techniques today, where the "fire marks" from wood-firing render each piece unique. Nowadays, in many of Yixing's purple clay studios, clean electric kilns, upgraded with the assistance of State Grid Wuxi Power Supply Company, use intelligent temperature control to boost the success rate of finished products to over 90%, allowing the art of Yixing purple clay firing to be passed down through generations in modern life.

The advancement in techniques has not shaken the foundation of handcraftsmanship. Purple clay artist Fan Shunsong adheres to fully handmade production, integrating techniques like gold and silver inlaying into his clay carving, and has specially created cultural and creative products like zodiac teapots for the Year of the Horse. "Upholding tradition doesn't mean being stagnant, and innovation cannot be impetuous," he said. Preserving the soul of the craft ensures its continuous vitality amidst the New Year's festivities.

Traveling north from Jiangnan, the rich flavor of the New Year permeates folk customs everywhere. Inside the Capital Museum, an exhibition on temple fair culture from the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region brings the folk customs of the three areas into the exhibition hall. At the Prince Kung's Palace Museum's New Year painting exhibition, traditional woodblock New Year pictures from across the country attract audiences eager to try rubbing and printing. "Making New Year paintings together is a way to seek good luck," said Mr. Xu. "Spending a cultural New Year in the museum."

Inside the China Intangible Cultural Heritage Museum, over a hundred intangible cultural heritage items, from the traditional calendar to lantern folklore, are linked together to create a three-dimensional scene of celebrating the New Year. At the "Intangible Cultural Heritage New Year Gift" market, customs from various regions converge, blending familiar hometown flavors with distinctive characteristics from other places.

Within the Western Xia Mausoleum in Yinchuan, Ningxia, an immersive walk-through performance makes visitors feel as if they have traveled back a thousand years: merchants of various ethnicities hawk their wares along the streets, and "Flying Apsaras" from murals dance gracefully amidst light and shadow. Children take photos with historical characters, experience archery and pitch-pot games, and use the "silver notes" they've won to buy cultural and creative products. "Being able to understand history through interesting folk customs makes the Spring Festival more meaningful," remarked Wang Fei, a tourist from Shanxi Province.

In Yan'an, Shaanxi Province, folk performances like the northern Shaanxi yangge dance and lion dances took turns on stage. As night fell, hundreds of lantern sets incorporating Year of the Horse elements lit up the night sky. Performances of dahua (molten iron fireworks) and bonfire parties pushed the festive atmosphere to its peak, with people experiencing a unique New Year's flavor amidst songs and laughter.

This Spring Festival, people completed a journey of root-seeking through deep dialogue with traditional culture. Folk customs are not merely static exhibits but a perceptible and tangible part of life, thriving and perpetuating through generations.

Intangible Cultural Heritage Folk Customs Shine with New Brilliance, Adding More "Chinese Flavor" to the New Spring

During the 2026 Spring Festival holiday, regions across China brightened holiday life with a rich variety of intangible cultural heritage (ICH) experience activities. From urban cultural venues to ancient town tourist districts, people experienced the vitality and charm of traditional folk customs in their contemporary revival.

On the first day of the lunar new year, Shanghai resident Hu Jie walked into the Shanghai Mass Art Museum. Under the guidance of an ICH inheritor, she made a sachet symbolizing "immediate success" (literally 'horse arrives successfully'). With a base of red brocade, a horse embroidered with golden thread, and a filling of mugwort leaves and sandalwood, this handcrafted ICH work carried her hopes for the new year.

"Since the successful inscription of the Spring Festival on the UNESCO list, public enthusiasm for participating in ICH experiences has noticeably increased," explained Chen Ping, Director of the Intangible Cultural Heritage Division at the Shanghai Municipal Administration of Culture and Tourism. She introduced that during the 2026 Spring Festival period, Shanghai launched a series of ICH activities under the theme "Happy Tour Shanghai for the New Year · Savoring the Taste of Life," covering categories such as ICH cuisine, New Year paintings and couplets, lantern festivals and displays, and craft experiences, totaling several hundred events.

At the Liuye Lake Tourist Resort in Changde, Hunan Province, a group of young people had just finished a teaching experience in Changde Sixian (a local form of storytelling sung to music) when they gathered for a group photo on the He Street stone bridge, holding their newly purchased cultural and creative products. While preserving the "authentic flavor" of local ICH items like Changde high-pitched opera, Sixian, and Yugu (fisherman's drums), the local area introduced new forms such as immersive roving performances and guofeng (Chinese-style) check-in spots to attract more citizens and tourists to participate.

"Gathering with family and friends to learn ICH skills is both a cultural experience and an emotional connection," sighed Ms. Liu, a Changde resident. "It makes this holiday more flavorful and warmer."

The stage for ICH folk customs is expanding. Cao'e Li · Shisan Nong in Shangyu, Zhejiang Province, has become an open-air "Grand ICH Garden," with performances like "The Zhu Family Seeking a Son-in-Law" and decorated boat parades taking turns. The "Thousand-Meter Long Banquet" in Zhongshan Ancient Town, Jiangjin District, Chongqing, broke away from the simple banquet model, incorporating interactive elements like paper-cutting, writing Spring Festival couplets, and ICH demonstrations. Places like Beidaihe in Hebei and Danzhou in Hainan have also integrated ICH into their tourist routes, allowing visitors to experience the cultural flavor of the New Year.

Across the length and breadth of the country, ICH folk customs are integrating into Spring Festival life in more intimate and perceptible ways, becoming the warmest undertone of this "Chinese New Year."

Technology Empowers Traditional Folk Customs, Bringing Them to Life Between Light and Shadow

When millennia-old folk customs meet cutting-edge technology, traditional culture radiates new vitality during the New Spring. This Spring Festival, technology has shifted folk culture from "being watched" to "being experienced."

In the night sky over the two rivers and four banks of Chongqing, ten thousand drones ascended in unison, unfolding a flowing tableau: steeds treading on auspicious clouds, smiling children holding ruyi scepters, a stream of brilliant light and color cascading down upon the upturned faces of the crowd. "Empowering culture and tourism with technology not only revitalizes traditional culture but also generates tangible consumption growth," said Lei Wang, Director of the Nan'an District Cultural and Tourism Commission in Chongqing, noting a significant increase in nighttime consumption around the performance areas.

The Zigong Lantern Festival in Sichuan Province deeply integrated ancient lantern artistry with Chinese cultural heritage. The "Wonderful Huaxia" lantern group, based on the classic text "The Happy Excursion," constructed a "mechanical mythological universe" inside the belly of the mythical Kun fish, featuring an LED starry sky dome and precision devices for an immersive experience.

Technology further made the lantern festival interactive and tangible: the voice-interactive Nian beast "Nian Nian," the auspicious gourd casting light and shadow of "Fu" (blessing) and "Lu" (prosperity), and lantern groups that moved when struck, all attracted visitors eager to check in. "Watching lanterns has become playing with lanterns; we ourselves have become part of the light and shadow," people marveled.

On Dalian's Xiongdong Street in Liaoning Province, the Spring Festival AI Technology Festival added a sense of "futurism" to the New Year's flavor. The AI agent "Xiong Beibei" can perform stand-up comedy and engage in dialogue and interaction with visitors. Cyber yangge dances and robot dog lion dances cleverly combined tradition and machinery. A cyber "God of Wealth" robot patrolled at scheduled times, turning the traditional custom of "welcoming the God of Wealth" into a mobile interactive experience. A drone "red envelope rain" used aerial technology to interpret the traditional practice of giving out "red envelopes."

"During the Spring Festival, we value 'good luck' and 'seeking good fortune.' We've transformed this cultural psychology into interactive mechanisms, truly making the New Year's flavor come alive," said Wang Haoyu, General Manager of the Dalian Xiongdong Street project. He stated that technology does not simply replace tradition but reconstructs its form of expression while preserving cultural symbols and a sense of ritual.

Technology makes traditional culture tangible and the New Year's flavor accessible. This New Spring, ancient folk customs have integrated into life with a new posture, finding a place in the hearts of generation after generation. This is how cultural roots, nurtured in the soil of innovation, grow deeper and flourish stronger.

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