CRI听力:Carnival Spirit Lights Up Through Generations During Spring Festival

Miaohui is an event that dates back to ancient times, when farmers would offer New Year sacrifices to their village gods.

As time progressed, the event later saw marketplaces spring up, with villagers peddling their wares and performers putting on shows.

The temple fairs, they are known today, grew in prominence throughout the Ming and Qing dynasties from 1368 to 1911.

But after the founding of the People's Republic in 1949, temple fairs disappeared.

However, they began re-emerging in the 1980's.

Jin Mao, an expert on traditional Chinese culture and history, says the revival of temple fairs in China began in Beijing.

"The country's first official temple fair after 1949 was in 1985 at Beijing's Ditan, or Temple of the Earth. Now, they are once again an important part of the Spring Festival and they continue to evolve. The carnivals in parks such as Ditan and others with a long history largely remain true to tradition, and they evoke imperial times and folk memories."

Miaohui has become a festival filled with food and activities that are enjoyed by every generation.

Each generation remembers temple fairs differently.

However, every generation views them as a joyful place to go during the Spring Festival.

Children in China have been referred to as the "God of Happiness."

As such, during temple fairs, the "Gods of happiness" pass "lucky cards" to visitors at the temple fair.

Whomever receives the "lucky card" is considered blessed for the whole year.

This is one of a number of activities children enjoy during the temple fairs.

"I love temple fair because I can buy kites and candy haws."

"This year I want to blow sugar figurines when I go to temple fair."

"My younger sister and I can watch traditional plays, such as dragon dance show."

People, born in the 1940's or 50's have seen significant changes made in temple fairs through the decades.

Yan Yunxian is "laobeijing" -- a term for those who were born and raised in the capital city.

Yan says she remembers children with red cotton-padded jackets running out of their hutongs to join the temple fairs and see traditional folk art that now can rarely be seen, such as the creation of sugar figurines.

"When I was young, there was only the Changdian event, which was not an official temple fair. But we called it Miaohui anyway. One of the things I remember dearly is the sugar figurines that were popular in traditional stories. I really enjoyed watching and eating afterwards."

He Yunwei and Li Jing, two famous cross-talk actors, have used the creation of sugar figurines as part of their act.

The two tell a funny story of a grandchild and grandfather making blow sugar figurines during the Spring Festival.

Yan Yunxian says while temple fairs have changed through the decades, the spirit of them hasn't.

"In recent years, temple fair has not been like the ones when I was little because of the rapid change in society. However, I think Beijing has preserved a lot of the old traditions and blended it with the new trends. It offers a chance to immerse ourselves in life in ancient China. It's also an opportunity for Chinese parents to show their children facets of Chinese tradition. In the end, it's simply a great way to spend quality time with the family."

Younger generation who were born in the 80's or 90's have also come to know Miaohui as part of the Spring Festival tradition.

Wang Zhe recently finished her undergraduate and graduate studies in the United States.

She says she's really excited to go to this year's temple fair in Beijing, as its been a while since she's been back at this time of year.

"I remember the last time I went to a temple fair was six years ago since I always returned to China during the vacations. I like the traditional Beijing snacks so much. The best traditional Beijing snacks are the candied haw, the Sweetened Fried Flour balls and Beijing Sausage. Although sometimes you can find these snacks in other places, they always taste the best during a temple fair because of the atmosphere. "

This year's temple fairs have different themes, and have adopted today's modern entertainment trends.

For example, the Longtan Park is adding ice-related games to celebrate China's successful bid to host the Winter Olympics in 2022.

And Ditan Park will put on show the connection in traditional culture and customs of Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei to hail the central government's integrated development plan of the northern Chinese region.

Organizers say a total of 124 temple fairs have been arranged in Beijing for this year's week-long Spring Festival holiday with over 2.5 million visitors anticipated.

For CRI, this is Huang Yue.