With the arrival of the cold winter, the Laba Festival is celebrated throughout China, which falls on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. This cultural holiday is not only a celebration, but also the symbolic start of the countdown to China's biggest holiday, the Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year.
Across the country, from rural areas to bustling cities, people come together to enjoy a mix of traditional customs and local festivities.
Traditional celebrations in towns and countryside
In the city of Wuhu in Nanling County, located in East China's Anhui Province, the holiday is celebrated in a bustling people's market. The market offers locals and visitors a variety of traditional dishes, with the iconic dish being Laba porridge, which is cooked over an open fire. The smell of this sweet delicacy fills the air and draws crowds.
But the market is not just about food. Local artists perform traditional music, dance and acrobatics. Children, together with their parents, enthusiastically shop for Chinese New Year essentials such as sweets, snacks and decorations.
In Shangqiu City, central Henan Province, teachers and primary school students work together to prepare Laba porridge. Early in the morning, they start preparing ingredients such as glutinous rice, green beans, raisins, red dates and millet. Once all the ingredients get into the pot and start cooking, the whole school is immersed in the sweet aroma of the porridge.
Good porridge: Symbol of unity and harmony
Laba porridge is the traditional dish of the day. Unlike other festive dishes such as sweet dumplings, zongzi or mooncakes, which families usually enjoy in private, Laba porridge is often shared with neighbours, friends and the wider community. With its colourful composition, it symbolises unity, harmony and gratitude for the gifts of life.
Laba: Start of the Spring Festival season
Laba Festival is not just about porridge - it officially kicks off the Spring Festival season. For thousands of years, Chinese culture has been deeply connected to natural rhythms such as hunting, gathering and farming. Each harvest was considered a blessing and a sign of ancestral protection.
In the past, large sacrificial ceremonies were held at the end of the year, where people thanked the gods and ancestors for the harvest and prayed for prosperity and protection in the coming year. Today, these elaborate rituals have been replaced by simpler forms of celebration, with the preparation of Laba porridge remaining one of the most popular ways to commemorate the festival.
Getting ready for the New Year
After tasting the Laba porridge and starting the festivities, the excitement of the upcoming Spring Festival spreads among the people. Preparations for the new year follow - shopping, cleaning homes, getting new clothes and preparing ingredients for festive feasts.
The markets come alive: red lanterns hang on every corner, the stalls are full of colourful paintings and red signs, and the air is scented with nuts and sweets. The colour red, symbolising vitality and life, permeates the whole marketplace and captures the energy and spirit of the coming season.
The Laba Festival thus brings not only joy, but also a sense of unity and gratitude, perfectly kicking off the preparations for the Chinese New Year celebrations.
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