Whenever the Spring Festival comes, many families will turn out the old photo album and look at the yellowed photos page by page, as if they can smell the taste of the years. Speaking of the Spring Festival in the 1980s, it was an era of "taste". Imagine that cold Chinese New Year's Eve in 1983, the whole family sat in front of the black and white TV, watching the first Chinese Spring Festival Gala intently, the fun and warmth, does it make people nostalgic and want to travel back?
Let's start with the Spring Festival Gala. In 1983, with the broadcast of China's first Spring Festival Gala, this program quickly became the standard for every household in the Chinese New Year's Eve. At that time, the Spring Festival Gala did not have too many gorgeous techniques and complicated choreography, but every program was pure and sincere, and the blessings of the actors deeply touched the heartstrings of the audience. In this way, a simple party has planted the seeds of joy and reunion in the hearts of hundreds of millions of Chinese.
But in addition to the Spring Festival Gala, the taste of the Spring Festival also comes from those traditional foods. Did you know that in the 1980s, food during the Chinese New Year was a big attraction. At that time, although people were not rich, they always had to "give up once" for the New Year. Chickens, ducks, fish and geese are indispensable on the table, as well as various meat products, hot dumplings and sweet rice cakes, each of which carries the hard work and expectations of the past year. Everyone sat together, not only for a Chinese New Year's Eve dinner, but also for a family reunion.
And when it comes to new clothes, that's every child's New Year's expectation. Children in rural areas may rarely have a new dress a year, and wearing brand new clothes during the Chinese New Year is not only to celebrate the New Year, but also a kind of baptism from the inside out. Although times have changed now, adults still habitually prepare new clothes for children before the Spring Festival, but fashionable styles have replaced the cloth clothes at that time.
Home is the harbor in everyone's heart, and the cleaning before the Spring Festival is not only to welcome the arrival of the New Year, but also a kind of farewell to the past and the expectation of a new life. Every household is turning their homes upside down, cleaning from the inside out, hoping to have a fresh start in the new year.
Do you remember the time when bicycles were a necessity for almost every home. Especially in the countryside, a new bicycle is not only a practical means of transportation, but also a symbol of fashion. When young people get married, the bicycles in the "three turns and one ring" (bicycle, sewing machine, watch, radio) represent the romance and practicality of that era. The streets and alleys are full of people riding bicycles, which has become a beautiful scenery of that era.
In addition to these specific material cultures, the spiritual significance of the Spring Festival is of irreplaceable importance to people in the 80s. Back then, there was no internet, no smartphones, and people-to-people connections relied more on face-to-face communication. Chinese New Year has become the perfect time for family and friends to gather together, and people will leave their busy schedules for the past year and rush home from far and wide to spend this traditional festival with their families. That kind of emotional closeness and warmth is irreplaceable by any modern communication tool.
With the passage of time, many things have changed, but the Spring Festival, a festival with profound cultural accumulation, has always maintained its unique charm. Whenever the Spring Festival comes, whether it is the high-rise buildings of the city or the alleys of the countryside, there is a unique festive atmosphere, which makes people involuntarily immersed in it.
As we often say, "things are not people", and many customs and traditions have gradually changed over time. For example, bicycles, which were once a must-have in every household, have now been replaced by modern means of transportation. And the Spring Festival Gala, although it is still the choice of many families on Chinese New Year's Eve, whether its influence can still be as far-reaching as in 1983 is also a question worth considering.
Looking back at the Spring Festival in the 1980s, it is not difficult to find that although the times are changing, certain core values of emotions and traditions are still cherished and inherited. The Spring Festival is not only a festival, but also a kind of cultural transmission and emotional sustenance. In this festival of warmth and hope, it carries the meaning of reunion and new beginnings, both in the past and in the present. Are you ready to relive this tradition? Let's create more memories in the new year!