The first "World Intangible Heritage Edition" Spring Festival is coming soon. Compared with the past three-day holidays, South Koreans will have a "super long standby" of up to 6 days this year. South Korean media said that the extension of the holiday is mainly due to the consideration of stimulating the economy and boosting domestic demand, especially the hope is to have a positive impact on the tourism industry. Where to go during the Spring Festival? This year, Koreans have more choices.

Korean tourists love Chinese lanterns

In the past, the Korean Spring Festival ceremony was relatively single. Nowadays, in addition to traditional rituals and New Year worship, in order to promote the tourism economy, the South Korean government has vigorously promoted traditional Spring Festival projects, encouraging citizens to wear Korean clothes, celebrate New Year greetings, play traditional chess games, etc. The extension of the Spring Festival holiday this year is also due to the consideration of promoting the tourism economy.

From the 28th to the 30th of this month, the New Year Festival will be held in Umhyun Palace, Seoul, including music performances, magic performances, acrobatics, sharing rice cake soup, traditional game experiences, etc. The parking lot of Nanshangu Hanok Village will also hold a New Year celebration that includes traditional folk performances, cultural experiences and other entertainment projects.

As the Spring Festival holiday this year extends, the tourist destinations of Koreans have become more diverse. Relevant data shows that from January 24 to February 2, the number of people leaving the airport will exceed 1.34 million.

From November 8 last year, China will pilot visa-free policy for South Korean citizens. South Korean media reported that the number of Koreans planning to travel to China during the Spring Festival has increased significantly. Lee Young-seok from Gimpo City, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea said that he only returned to his grandma's house during the Spring Festival last year, and this year he was considering traveling abroad with his family. Today, characteristic cities such as Shanghai, Beijing, and Chongqing, as well as natural landscapes such as Zhangjiajie and Taihang Mountain have become popular destinations for Korean tourists.

China's rich cultural heritage, beautiful natural landscapes and special food have attracted the attention of Korean tourists. They hope to take this opportunity to experience different cultures and experience the Chinese Spring Festival atmosphere. A Korean girl said on social platforms that she likes Chinese lanterns very much. "I finally know why lanterns look at China. Korean lanterns are whiter, but Chinese lanterns are colorful and gorgeous."

College the Spring Festival with traditional Korean food

Children wearing traditional Korean clothes fold their hands on their foreheads and learn how to perform an indispensable ceremony in the Korean Spring Festival - "Year-worship". This is a recent scene in a kindergarten in Daegu, South Korea. This indicates that the Spring Festival is getting closer and closer. Recently, people have been surging in major markets, and people are busy purchasing various New Year’s goods. Food sets such as cooking oil, seaweed, canned ham and other food sets as well as exquisite fruit gift boxes are very popular.

Similar to the Chinese Spring Festival, Korean people will also pay New Year greetings to their elders and visit relatives and friends during the Chinese New Year. In addition, South Korea has also extended some unique ways of celebrating.

In a pastry shop in Mogou Market, Busan, South Korea, workers are busy making delicious rice cakes. Korean rice cakes are round and long strips, and the circle symbolizes light and sun, and also represent coins and wealth. If they grow, they symbolize longevity. The most indispensable part of Korean reunion dinner is rice cake soup. Make soup with chicken or beef, add rice cakes, and then add vegetables, eggs, seaweed and other ingredients, and a bowl of steaming delicious rice cake soup is cooked. In the eyes of Koreans, drinking rice cake soup is considered to be "increasing the age".

After the meal, the younger generations in the family will hold their hands flat in the order of their elders, and hold the "year-old worship" ceremony. Elders will accept blessings from younger generations and will also distribute New Year’s money.

The festival supplies for the Korean Spring Festival are very distinctive: white rice cakes, white envelopes, white couplets... In the eyes of Koreans, white is a symbol of nobility and purity, so they use white to express their beautiful hopes and blessings for the future. The Korean Spring Festival couplets are also written in Chinese. Some Chinese students shared that when they were in school in South Korea, they often saw Spring Festival couplets with the words "Jianyang Duoqing" and "A Happy Spring" at the entrance of the hotel next to the school.