The Daguan River flows slowly and quietly under the warm sunshine in winter. People are hustling and bustling in the Zhuanxin Wet Market. All kinds of shouts are mixed with bargainings, and the atmosphere of the Spring Festival is increasingly growing up.

The atmosphere of the Spring Festival is increasingly growing up at Zhuanxin Wet Market and the live broadcast attracted many citizens to watch. Photo provided by Wen Li, a member of Ningxia Photographers Association 

The stalls were crowded with people who were shopping for Spring Festival. They carried large bags and small ones, and many came to buy goods with carts. The people were queuing to buy eight treasure rice. Among the crowd, Christine raised her voice: "eight treasure rice and steamed cakes are necessary dishes for the Spring Festival, and each dish has its own nice meaning. Eight treasure rice means happiness and sweetness while the steamed cakes' name is a homophone of “new heights for every year.” Andre smiled after listening and said: "In China, each dish of the Spring Festival has its own specific meaning and cultural connotation, which is different in western countries. It is very interesting."

The atmosphere of the Spring Festival is increasingly growing up at Zhuanxin Wet Market. Photo/Rachel 

"The milk is sold in fans, one of the strange commodities in 18 Oddities in Yunnan. " Andre said quickly when he saw the milk fan. The owner introduced that the milk fan is a special product of Dali, which can be roasted and fried. In Dali, the Bai people also use the milk fan to make sweet tea, or eat it raw. Then he handed a small piece to Andre. A few seconds later, "I have eaten baked and fried milk fans before. This is the first time I have eaten them raw. They are rich in milk, very like cheese, delicious!" Andre joked that he found a "substitute" for cheese. "During the Spring Festival, we eat steamed ham with dairy cake, which are cut into pieces, and steamed with ham. It tastes very good." When heard the food receipe recommended by Christine, Andre said he would like to try it sometimes.

Andre enjoyed the salty and delicious sausage and praised it. Photo provided by Wen Li, a member of Ningxia Photographers Association

After walking through the milk fan stall, he followed the smell and came to the bacon and sausage stall. The strips of bacon and thin and fat sausages were hung on the string above the stall. Looking at the greasy bacon in the steamer, Andre looked down and asked: "Hey dude, may I try this?" The enthusiastic boss cut off several pieces of bacon and sausage, inserted a toothpick and handed it to Andre. After swallowing it, he raised his thumb and said, "I loved meat when I was in South Africa. I was so happy to eat such delicious sausage in Kunming. This is my favorite shop."

The fresh blood tofu is dried under the sun. file photo

"Andre, have a try of this blood tofu. It is made of tofu and pig blood, mixed with salt, pepper, meat and other ingredients, and processed through mashing, rolling, cooking and baking." Then Christine handed Andre a piece of blood tofu. He said, "This is my first time to eat blood tofu. It is delicious and I can taste the flavor of tofu."

On the live broadcast, they bought Spring Festival couplets and Chinese character "Fu". Photo/Rachel

While strolling with the crowd and enjoying all kinds of delicious food, they came to the Spring Festival couplets booth. Andre knows that the character "Fu" and Spring Festival couplets are indispensable. Christine said, "the way of sticking character 'Fu' should be chosen carefully. The character “Fu” is supposed to be posted upright on the gate. However, it can be posted upside down in other places since the sound of reversed 'Fu' has the same sound as 'happiness comes'." Holding a character "Fu" in his hand, Andre wished people at home and abroad: "Hope you enjoy a wonderful and fantastic life in the Year of the Rabbit!"

During the live broadcast, Andre enthusiastically recommended the Spring Festival goods to the audience. Photo provided by Wen Li, a member of Ningxia Photographers Association

After the live broadcast, Andre told the reporter that this was his first time to visit Zhuanxin Wet Market. It was very big. There were all kinds of fresh vegetables and fruits, cooked dishes, and cooking ingredients. He learned about the cultural customs of Spring Festival, like hanging inverted sugar cane stalks outside of front doors and enjoying vegetables without cutting. "Today, I am very happy to visit Zhuanxin Wet Market. There are many Spring Festival products." Andre said frankly, in the future, he will come here to eat a bowl of bean curd rice noodles and maybe buy vegetables to cook at home.

On the live broadcast of the event, they went to the Zhuanxin Wet Market to shopping for the Spring Festival. Photot provided by Wen Li, member of Ningxia Photographers Association

It is reported that this event was simultaneously broadcast on the Kunming Information Hub Douyin, WeChat Video Channel, YouTube and TikTok, introducing the common delicacies for the Chinese Spring Festival's Eve and explain related customs, attracting 80,000 people to watch and 13,000 likes, making the traditional Chinese culture go global, and forming the festive atmosphere on the Internet.

Click here to view Chinese report

(Editors: Rachel, Amy)