Is the ＂taste of the year＂ weak？ -A perspective of the changes and unchangeable customs of the Spring Festival.

　　Xinhua News Agency, Jinan, February 21stQuestion: Is the "taste of the year" weak? — — Perspective on the Change and Invariance of Spring Festival Customs

　　Xinhua News Agency reporters Wang Zhi, Yuan Junbao and Wang Yang

　　The Spring Festival is a grand and lively traditional festival in Chinese, and it is also an important moment to reunite with relatives and friends. With the development of society and the progress of the times, people’s custom of celebrating the New Year has changed greatly. Experts believe that although the "ritual sense" of the Chinese New Year is weakening now, the New Year custom branded with the new era is passed down in evolution, and the "cultural gene" of the Spring Festival reunion remains unchanged.

　　The change of "smell": the city does not smell firecrackers, and it is green and environmentally friendly to celebrate the New Year.

　　"This year’s New Year’s Eve is quiet, I can’t smell the sultry smell, I can’t see the firecrackers scattered everywhere, I see the blue sky, leaving a comfortable mood." In the early morning of the first day of the first month, Zhao Lijuan, a citizen of Jinan, wrote this feeling of Chinese New Year in his WeChat circle of friends.

　　The sound of firecrackers said goodbye to the old year. During the Spring Festival, people will set off fireworks to welcome the New Year. However, the environmental pollution and safety hazards caused by fireworks and firecrackers have become more and more prominent. It has become people’s common wish to keep green mountains and green waters and blue sky and white clouds.

　　From January 1st this year, Jinan City banned the discharge of fireworks and firecrackers in the core area. At the same time as the ban was issued, Jinan also issued a policy that citizens can replace the remaining fireworks and firecrackers in their homes with daily necessities and souvenirs, and set up special "exchange points" in residential communities.

　　Luo Baoyu, director of the Aolong Community Neighborhood Committee in Shunhua Road, Jinan, said that although setting off firecrackers is a traditional Chinese New Year custom, the centralized discharge produces serious air pollution, leaving debris on the ground and the hard work of thousands of sanitation workers. When the tradition is contrary to the real environment, we should advocate green festivals and civilized festivals.

　　According to the data from the Ministry of Environmental Protection, the air quality in 338 cities across the country has generally improved on New Year’s Eve this year, and the maximum hourly average concentration of PM2.5 decreased by 22.1% compared with last year’s New Year’s Eve.

　　The change of "human touch": not seeing each other is like meeting each other, but it is more "normal" when it is "light"

　　"In the past, it took more than 20 hours to get on the train from Lanzhou to Xuzhou. Now it takes only more than 7 hours to take the high-speed train." Sun Xia, whose hometown is in Junan County, Shandong Province, said that the train is fast, the plane tickets are relatively cheap, and there are more times to go home, which is not as exciting and exciting as going home once in previous years.

　　The data shows that last year, China’s railways completed 3.039 billion passenger trips, of which 1.713 billion were sent by EMUs. By the end of last year, the number of motor vehicles in China had reached 310 million, about one motor vehicle for every four people.

　　At the same time, with the popularity of communication means such as smart phones and video calls, it is easier to "meet" between relatives and friends. Liu Lifan, a citizen of Jinan, said that although his 70-year-old mother can’t read, she has learned to connect WeChat videos with a tablet computer, and several old brothers and sisters often have video group chats together. "Now there are more interactions between relatives and friends on the phone, WeChat chat and friends circle. Although it is not seen, it is just like meeting each other." Liu Lifan said.

　　According to the data released by China Internet Network Information Center recently, as of December 2017, the number of netizens in China reached 772 million, with a penetration rate of 55.8%, which was 4.1 percentage points higher than the global average (51.7%).

　　Cui Shuyi, director of the Institute of Demography of Shandong Academy of Social Sciences, said that due to the restrictions of transportation and communication conditions, the "homesickness" such as family and friends exchanges was a concentrated release when they returned home during the Spring Festival, but now it is as usual. "It seems to be bleak, but in fact it is more opportunities and times of communication."

　　The change of "taste of the year": the "sense of ceremony" is weakened, and the "cultural gene" of reunion remains unchanged.

　　"Watching the Spring Festival Gala on TV when I was a child", "Waiting to wear new clothes and have a good meal", "kowtowing to the elders on New Year’s Day" and "setting off firecrackers with friends" … … Many people are deeply impressed by these memories.

　　However, with the continuous improvement of the living standards of Chinese residents, the changes in urban and rural population structure and the development of science and technology, people’s participation in the Spring Festival has decreased, and the ways of buying new year’s goods and greeting the New Year have been constantly changing, and the "sense of ceremony" of the New Year has also weakened.

　　"Twenty-three, candied melons are sticky; Twenty-four, sweep the house; … … Twist on the first day of the New Year. " Li Wei, a citizen of Zibo, said that although some traditional Chinese New Year folk customs are less involved, people’s habit of going home for reunion in the New Year remains unchanged.

　　Experts believe that with the development of economy and society, the concept of Chinese New Year is also changing in people’s minds, and the annual customs as a specific form of expression will inevitably change. For example, setting off fewer firecrackers, eating a low-sugar and low-oil diet, and paying New Year greetings online are all changes that have taken place to adapt to the new situation. Professor Sun Yu, Dean of the College of Literature of China Renmin University, believes that the taste of the year is actually the human touch. As long as the human touch remains unchanged, the change of form is the normal state of custom.

　　Song Aijun, deputy director of the China Local Folklore Professional Committee, said that there should be more tolerance for the changes in the form of annual customs. "New life and New Year customs can be regarded as a kind of circulation of annual tastes, from rural folks to urban space, from offline to online."