At the end of every year, friends around me will always say: "The New Year is getting more and more boring."

The Spring Festival used to be a big drama involving all the people. There are red lanterns with colorful lights on the streets, firecrackers on the streets and alleys of New Year's Eve, and children in every family have to change into new clothes... The New Year is not just New Year's Eve. Elders may have been busy with the New Year's Eve dinner since the first day of the twelfth lunar month. After that, the bacon dried under the eaves, the general cleaning during the New Year's Eve, and the gifts from neighbors until the reunion dinner is completed on the eve of New Year's Eve.

The so-called "New Year's Eve flavor" is the gathering of New Year's Eve dinner and the joy of visiting relatives and friends.It is the sense of ceremony prepared by counting down day by day, it is people's willingness to trouble and pay attention to this illusory sense of ceremony, and it is also the sincere friendship between relatives, friends and neighbors.。But we can never go back.

Before writing this tweet, I thought for a long time. Where does Shanghai have the most flavor of the New Year? Thinking about it, I still want to talk about itYuyuan Lantern Festival。As a national intangible cultural heritage project, the Yuyuan New Year Folk Art Lantern Festival (hereinafter referred to as the "Yuyuan Lantern Festival") has entered its 26th year. Shanghainese born and raised may not go to Garao to visit the Lantern Festival during the New Year, but to talk about the lively and ancient traditional New Year flavor, the Yuyuan Lantern Festival is always indispensable.


This tweet will read from "Must-check in attractions, intangible cultural heritage experiences in Yu Garden and other places to visit and play during the Yuyuan Lantern Festival"Two parts to share with you.
01When visiting the Yuyuan Lantern Festival, you must check in for the attractionsThis year's Lantern Festival starts on January 18 and lasts until February 18. It lasts for 32 days. The charging period is from February 11 to February 15 (the 11th to 15th of the first month), with tickets of 30 yuan. Since it has been raining during this time, not many people actually went to the lantern festival.Based on the experience of previous years, the number of people at the Yuyuan Lantern Festival reaches its peak from the seventh day of the New Year to the Lantern Festival.I remember last year when Ms. Zhang and I went to the lantern festival after work, we turned back before we even reached the Jiuqu Bridge. The reason is that there are too many people at Jiuqu Bridge, which requires current restriction, queuing, and accessing the bridge. At that time, I still felt it was too dangerous, so I gave up.

The Year of the Tiger is approaching, and this year's protagonist is naturally the tiger and powerful zodiac tiger. Tigers of different sizes moved between various squares and eaves, leaving their figures behind, such as the Qiaohu on the eaves and the Lucky Tiger at the Golden Street of Laomiao.


The largest Zodiac Tiger Lantern Group is in the central square, standing on the hill and looking out to the future. It is called "Tiger Leaps from the East"。There are also three cute little tigers in front of it: the astronaut tiger holding the national flag, the skiing tiger participating in the Beijing Winter Olympics, and the command tiger on the aircraft carrier.


The most popular photo loversIt must be the Golden Square holding the ingot in one hand and comparing "yeah" with the other God of WealthYes. The Golden Square is really a splendid place. The God of Wealth is surrounded by gold and silver jewelry. On the side is the Lao Temple Golden Silver Building and Jingrong Building. There is also the "Lao Temple Ancient Art Gold Decoration and Treasures Exhibition" on display inside.



The area with the most people and the most beautiful light group is the Jiuqu Bridge area.“ A walk on the Jiuqu Bridge will wipe away all the troubles of the year"This is a saying we all heard when we were children. Regarding "Why should we walk the Jiuqu Bridge on the first day of the New Year", according to what my grandma and I told me, ghosts can only walk in a straight line, so if you go on the Jiuqu Bridge on the New Year, you can avoid ghosts. After going through the nine twists and eighteen bends, you can stay away from twists and turns and bring success and peace.

Along the Jiuqu Bridge, a total of Four solar terms Nafu lamp groups-eating spring rolls at the beginning of spring, walking three bridges in rainwater, admiring peach blossoms in a sting manner, and making spring wine at the vernal equinox, let each little tiger interpret the customs of Jiangnan solar terms. It will also be projected on ancient buildings through the combination of sound, light and electricity. This is also a joint national landscape of the "Hundred Scenery Map of Jiangnan".






Of course, I still like this group of otherworldly daffodils best!

Don't underestimate these lanterns, like thisThree-dimensional animal lanternIt is one of the genres of Shanghai style lanterns. This kind of lantern is influenced by the realistic style of Western arts and crafts. Each time it is modeled, it must be based on the anatomy of animal skeletons, and appropriate artistic exaggeration must be added to the parts with animal characteristics. Every year, when making zodiac lights, many masters are dispatched to study photos of animals to determine the final pattern and shape, striving to be accurate, vivid and realistic.

This places high requirements on the master of making lights. The first step in making a lamp is to draw lead wire and tie the skeleton, The larger the lamp set, the easier it is to produce errors. A slight miss will lead to a thousand miles of error. A slight error will make people feel unvivid and lifelike.。Then the wires and light bulbs are attached, and then colorful colored silk is pasted on the surface. The joints of each piece of colored silk are inlaid with gold or silver threads. Finally, the animal parts are treated. This part of the process is quite sophisticated and complex. For example, the scales of a dragon lantern can be made through four or five processes.

Although Yu Garden is not big and one hour is enough to stroll around, The antique buildings in the entire area are actually a highlight of the lightsThe lighting of these buildings has been carefully designed. Traveling through it, you can also see many traditional walking lanterns, New Year's lanterns, and Bubble Mart co-branded models.

While visiting the lantern festival, I saw many children holding them in their hands Little tiger lantern(40 yuan each), the shape of Xiaolongbao is quite cute. When we were young, the school would assign homework for everyone to make rabbit lanterns during the Lantern Festival. The handmade rabbit lamp that I put all my efforts to complete is so cool that I drag it on the road!

There are more styles of lanterns sold in the old school street market. These lanterns can be folded for easy storage.

02 Go eat and have fun, let's first see the intangible cultural heritage experience Yuyuan Garden is rich in intangible cultural heritage resourcesFor example, there are more than 30 projects in making local dishes in the old restaurant, making Nanxiang steamed buns, making spiced beans, tea art in Huxinting, and pill making skills in Tonghan Chuntang.

In addition to these, there are many hidden intangible cultural heritage craftsmen in the shops in Yu Garden, including paper-cutting, shadow puppets, sugar painting, movable type printing, etc. The shops here are very different from before, with almost no shop selling duplicate products.

This year, Yuyuan also launched many experience projects with various merchants and craftsmen, such as printing New Year pictures, tying rabbit lanterns, and painting kites. However, the activities are very popular, and most activities are currently without quotas.

Currently, the remaining activities include: Through the Yuyuan Mall Mini programs, you can also make reservations for silver jewelry workshops and New Year jewelry workshops. Make an appointment through the Lao Town God Temple catering event, you can make an appointment Nanxiang Little Family Culture and Parent-Child Activities, six generations of intangible cultural heritage inheritors and disciples personally taught courses and taught how to make Xiaolongbao. This looks like fun. At the same time, combined with the theme of "One Cage, One Tea", we teach the secrets of tea making in the Lake Center Pavilion. The experience time is from 9:30 to 11:00 every Saturday, and the price is 158 yuan/person.

Recently, Nanxiang steamed bun shops still have ones that only give away but not sell them." Tiger head steamed buns", limited daily, but there is no more after noon.

Suzhou Taohuawu Wood New Year Painting ExhibitionRecently, it was also exhibited on the first floor of Huabao Building in Yuyuan, with a total of 21 traditional New Year pictures and 11 innovative New Year pictures. There are auspicious themes such as "Blooming Flowers and Prosperity" and "Kirin Sending Children", as well as scenes in Jiangnan such as watching lanterns and listening to operas, which are quite New Year's flavor.

It was very popular for a whileMiniature World·Four Hundred Years of Magic CityYou can also go and have a look, it is located in Yuyuan Department Store Tianyu Building B1.

500+ miniature landscapes, 10000+ miniature characters and 70+ interactive installations take you back to 1559 and begin to understand the historical story of Shanghai that has been raging for more than 400 years. My friend's children are in elementary school. Last time I gave them two tickets. The children played in it until they didn't want to come out, and they also gained a lot of knowledge.


There is also a market on the road to the old school yard next to Yu Garden, shadow puppet show, porno, Shanghai Art Film Studio... evoke many memories. Some stalls were surrounded by children for a long time, and we also recalled many memories.




Finally, I would like to send some Tips: About the tour route:In fact, it's almost the same as any door you enter through. It's still the same saying: Yu Garden is not big, and you can always see the three core light groups when walking around. It is recommended to go to the Magic City's Four Hundred Years Miniature World Exhibition at 3 o'clock in the afternoon. When you come out, the lights will turn on at about 5:30. There are not many people, so go for dinner after shopping. The Lantern Festival lasts until February 18, and the charging period is from February 11 to February 15 (the 11th to 15th of the first month), with tickets 30 yuan. There is less traffic on the working days before the festival, so it is recommended to travel off-peak.。

About eating:There are many restaurants around Yu Garden where you can eat and drink. There are Green Wave Gallery and Nanxiang Mantou Store in Yu Garden. For more cost-effective reasons, consider Ningbo Tangtuan Store, Dahuchun, and Chunfeng Songyue Building, a well-known vegetarian restaurant in Shanghai. If you want to eat the environment, you can also consider Songhelou, a Soviet-style noodle restaurant. If you want to connect a one-day trip, I recommend you go to the one I recommended before.Building-readable special bus。The 45-yuan sightseeing bus + City Walk with a guide lasts about 5 hours.

We leave at noon and go to Yuyuan Station in the afternoon to listen to an explanation and catch up with the lights. How fun is the little blue car? Let's take a look at what I wrote last time: "After shopping for 5 hours, I finally knew where the best place in Shanghai was."

That's all for today's sharing! I wish you all a happy New Year in advance and a happy holiday!