Visiting relatives during the Chinese New Year, what is it?

Visiting relatives and friends during the Spring Festival is a folk custom handed down from generation to generation in China, and it is a kind of extended family-style communication between relatives. As the saying goes, "getting closer."

First, the rules of walking relatives

Pay attention to the order of visiting relatives. "Different sounds in five miles, different customs in ten miles", and the rules vary from place to place.

The rule of our hometown is to go to menstruation's house on the first day, to my mother's house on the second day (married couples take their children to my grandmother's house on the third day and the fourth day), and to menstruation's house on the fourth day. Even after the New Year, close relatives will be strung together. In short, it is based on blood relationship and in-laws relationship, first far and then near, first near and then near. Immediate family members usually arrive before the fifth day of the fifth lunar month. If there are many relatives, they have to work more, or brothers and sisters implement the "division of labor responsibility system" and take turns every other year.

Visiting relatives to pay New Year's greetings usually begins early in the morning, and will be warmly received by the host family after arrival. At noon, they will have a big meal at the host's house, which can basically be the specialty of the host and hostess, and the hard dish is the "main tone".

Visiting relatives during the Chinese New Year generally pays attention to reciprocity and implements a "return visit" system. Of course, the "return visit" is still for the younger generation to pay homage to their elders. For example, when a nephew visits his uncle and aunt, he must visit his uncle and aunt. The time of the "return visit" is decided by the two families as relatives. Over time, it has become an established "convention".

Second, gifts for visiting relatives

When visiting relatives during the Spring Festival, you must bring gifts. We call it "handkerchief" here, and pay attention to "not empty-handed"

When I started to remember, it was in the middle and late 1970s, and everyone was not rich. Handkerchiefs are very simple, mainly snacks, fruits, canned goods, sweets and so on. The more common snacks are peach cakes, old-fashioned cakes, calcium milk biscuits, honey knives and so on. The types of fruits are monotonous, basically apples and oranges. Even if it is such a simple gift, when the younger generation who is visiting relatives leaves home after a hearty meal in the afternoon, the visited elders should be polite again and again, and then they must return one or two relatively worthless gifts. The reason they say is "you can't be empty-handed in the New Year".

Gift packaging is also very simple. Generally speaking, it is simply wrapped in luggage and then put in a wicker or bamboo basket.

With the process of reform and opening up, there are more and more kinds and patterns of gifts, which are constantly changing, with higher value and more advanced packaging. Nowadays, gift boxes are basically used.

Third, take the transportation of relatives.

In the past, the main means of transportation for visiting relatives was bicycles, and some people could drive tractors if possible. After a short motorcycle era, now everyone drives a private car to visit relatives.

Riding a bicycle to visit relatives is basically "streaking" and there is no shelter at all. Long-distance riding, encountering snowstorm, it's a long story. People who haven't experienced it can't understand it at all.

When I was a child, the distance from my home to my uncle's (my grandparents died young and there was only one uncle) was 30 miles. My sister and I visit my uncle's house on the second day of every year, which is a painful and happy thing. The reason for happiness is simple. My uncle can give some lucky money and eat something delicious that you can't usually eat at home, such as shredded sweet potatoes and glazed buns. But what is more unforgettable in the depths of memory is the difficulty of the road:

My parents each rode a bicycle, with presents on the handlebars, and my sister and I sat in the back seat. We are sometimes allowed to sit on the front beam for the convenience of carrying gifts. In the face of headwinds, it snows a little more, and the temperature is at least below MINUS seven or eight degrees. The speed of cycling is not much faster than walking. Often on the way, my parents see sweating on my head, and my sister and I sit numb, our fingers are a little frozen, and our faces and ears are frozen. Then I choose a place where I can avoid the wind and snow, and my parents rest. My sister and I also got off and stamped our feet and rubbed our hands. By the time we got to my uncle's house, my sister and I were already numb with legs and cold hands, but now we can have a good rest. Year after year, it was not until my sister and I learned to ride a bike in junior high school that this situation improved.

Therefore, when I grow up, I set a "great ambition": I must find a daughter-in-law who is close to home in the future, and my children are not bitter.

Later, I did marry a daughter-in-law who was closer to my parents' home. However, now every family has its own car, and highways, high-speed trains and airplanes are very convenient, so distance is no longer a problem.

Because of the epidemic, I found that many people, like most of my relatives, chose not to meet for the time being and only exchanged New Year greetings through WeChat and telephone.