陳瀅瀅

People in Guangzhou， or Cantonese， observe many customs during ChineseNew Year. Some customs are common，like doing the spring cleaning， pastingSpring Festival scrolls （ 春聯(lián)）， andpaying New Year calls. But some arequite different. If you plan to spend thefestival in Guangzhou， try to rememberthe following customs.

Cantonese traditionally enjoy visiting Spring Festival flower fairs （花市），so that they can take home a few auspicious（吉祥的）plants before Chinese NewYear. Businesspeople usually buy kumquats （金橘）which symbolize good luckand riches， while single people prefer peach blossoms which they think will bringlove.

Cantonese also buy food with auspicious Chinese meanings， hoping for a goodstart to the new year. For example， lettuce（生菜）， which sounds like makingmoney in Cantonese， and celery（芹菜）， which sounds like diligent， etc. Duringthe New Year’s Eve dinner， they enjoy so many dishes with auspicious names， allrepresenting good wishes for the New Year.

Follow these customs and traditions， and you can shake off the “tourist” tag andfit right in Guangzhou.