Traditional HolidaysSpring Festival 春节 (Chūn Jié)This is also known as Chinese New Year and starts on the first day of the first month in the lunar calendar. This is China's biggest holiday – people return from long distances and across oceans to gather with family in their hometown.Laborers and other workers take off work for 7 days. Essential services are closed for 3 days, while private businesses may close only for a few hours! People eat traditional food found in their area, get new clothes, and wish each other a happy new year. Children and some adults set off firecrackers at night, especially at midnight. Lantern Festival 元宵节 (Yuánxiāo Jié)This festival is celebrated 15 days after the Spring Festival. People make or buy paper lanterns and walk around the streets in the evening holding them. A favorite activity is to gather at various booths set up to guess riddles that have prizes.Tomb Sweeping Day 清明节 (Qīngmíng Jié)This holiday is usually on April 5. It is a time for family to visit and clean the graves of their departed relatives.They clean away any overgrowth, place flowers and food on the tomb, and burn ghost money for the departed to use in the afterlife. Dragon Boats Festival 端午节 (Duānwǔ Jié)This holiday occurs on May 5 according to the lunar calendar. People watch dragon boat races and eat triangular glutinous rice dumplings wrapped in reed leaves called zòngzi. This happy holiday is held to remember the death of Qū Yuán.Qū Yuán was a poet-statesman who protested against 3rd century government corruption. Filled with despair, he drowned himself in the mythological Mì Ló river in Húnán. The local people were so upset, they did not want the river fish to feed on their hero. Instead, they threw rice in the water, hoping to distract the fish. Ghost Month 鬼节 (Guǐ Jié)This holiday happens during the seventh lunar month. During this month, dead ancestors are allowed to walk the earth and re-visit family. People claim to have dreams of past relatives who have returned with instructions and complaints. Those who are living have an obligation to take care of the dead in the afterlife by burning paper money and offering food and drink.The most activity happens on the 15th day, or the middle of the month. The living decide when they will do the burning and offering. Usually, only one time is needed to satisfy the obligation. If the living, especially the eldest, do not fulfill their duties, people believe the ancestors will be angry and bring danger to the household. Many do not get marry, swim, travel, move. If someone dies during this month, the body will be preserved and buried the next month. Mid-Autumn Festival 中秋节 (Zhōngqiū Jié)Mid-Autumn Festival is also known as Moon Festival, and takes place on the 15th day of the eighth month.People gather with family, ook at the full moon, and eat a moon cake, called a yuèbǐng. Days prior to this festival, people buy various kinds of moon cakes with savory or sweet fillings and give them to friends and family. Minority Holidays3/3 Holiday 三月三 (San Yue San Wu Fan Jié)Fú'Ān has the highest concentration of Shē people in China. The 3/3 holiday lands on the 3rd day of the 3rd month on the lunar calendar.This holiday is characterized by gathering together, eating black rice, and singing long into the night. Recently, local culture bureaus have organized an afternoon singing celebration festival that is growing in popularity. The black rice is still made today to commemorate a Shē national hero Léi Wàng Xīng. In AD 669, his forces were fighting the corrupt area government and found themselves trapped in the mountains of north Fújiàn. To keep the local rice from being eaten and so they could continue to stay nourished, Léi's forces found a kind of mountain plant called “nián.” The soldiers squeezed a blackish liquid from the leaves and dyed the glutinous rice black. back to top Special Local FoodsFú’Ān is especially known for 2 snack foods. Guāng Bǐng 光饼 (guāng bǐng) This is a flour-based bread similar to the western bagel. The outside is hard, and the inside is chewy. Each location in northern Fujian has a different tasting guāng bǐng because the local water is unique to its location. When Japan was periodically invading Fújiàn and Taiwan in the mid-1500's, the Chinese forces in Fújiàn had run out of food. Their military leader, Qī Jī Guāng, only had rice flour and the local water supply to sustain his troops. The original guāng bǐng was circular. The soldiers poked a hole in its middle and strung multiple ones over their shoulders. The armies went on to defeat the invaders. And the guāng bǐng lives on today, remembering Qī Jī Guāng's courageous leadership and care for his troops. 
Fried cake with oyster
海砺饼 (hǎilì bǐng)
This is a rice-based that has a crispy outside and filled with oysters and local vegetables. back to top
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