Today, the 15th day of the first Chinese lunar month, is the
traditional Lantern Festival.
For many modern Chinese, however, lanterns and sweet dumplings
made of glutinous rice flour are still their favourites for the
traditional festival.
Xu Man, a young lawyer from East China's Shanghai said: "The
Lanterns Festival would not be a festival, if there were no
gorgeous lanterns."
Yet another Lunar New Year tradition is definitely dying
away.
Contrasted with eons-old practice of paying door-to-door visits
to relatives and friends, more people now prefer high-tech tools to
exchange greetings.
Moreover, a growing number of people, especially in big cities,
are shunning the custom of staying home for family reunions while
eating good food.
Instead, they spend their holidays in saloons, libraries,
gymnasiums, fitness clubs and even tour foreign countries.
The changes during the most important traditional festival in
China have aroused hot debate among cultural and folklore
experts.
Xu Xiao, who teaches the Chinese, considered the subdued festive
mood during the Spring Festival as a loss of traditional
culture.
He blamed the abandonment of some symbolic rites -- such as the
ban on fireworks in some cities -- for a weakening interest in the
Spring Festival among young people.
But renowned writer Feng Jicai hailed the changes as social
progress that should be encouraged.
"With changing times and life styles, it is natural for people
to change the ways to celebrate a traditional festival," he
said.
"After all, it is the way of celebrating rather than the
festival itself that has changed."
(China Daily February 5, 2004)
