Spring Festival is just two weeks away. After China won a decisive victory in combating poverty in 2020 after years of efforts, Chinese people around the country, especially those in poverty-alleviation areas, are preparing for the biggest celebration of the year with extra flare.

The festive calendar spans for 15 days, starting on the first day of the first lunar month and there are many activities set up to welcome the Lunar New Year. 

CGTN Culture presents you five poverty-alleviation localities that have a strong Chinese New Year festive vibe.

Langzhong in Sichuan Province: Birthplace of the Spring Festival

In the Western Han Dynasty (202 BC — 8 AD), astronomer Luoxia Hong traveled to the then capital Chang'an to propose a new calendar system to Emperor Wu. HisTai Chu lunisolar calendar was adopted, which specified the first day of the first lunar month, and the date of Chinese New Year has since been set with it. As Luoxia Hong was born in Langzhong, the place has been recognized as the birthplace of the Spring Festival.

Every year, Langzhong celebrates the festival with a 38-day-long cultural expo, hosting many activities from shadow puppetry to the ceremony of whipping clay-made farm cattle. Locals also keep the folk tradition of walking in the countryside to dispel diseases on the 16th day of the first lunar month.

Yuxian in Hebei Province: Dashuhua

Dashuhua is a more than a 500-year-old art performance. Local blacksmiths throw molten iron at over 1,600 degree Celsius against a high brick wall to create splashing sparks, which look like a leafy tree canopy. Astonishingly beautiful as fireworks, it is very dangerous.

The performance usually stages on three nights around the 15th day of the first lunar month to celebrate the Lantern Festival in Nuanquan Ancient Town, Yuxian County of north China's Hebei Province.

Southeastern Guizhou Province: Lusheng Festival

Starting on the third day of the first lunar month, people of the Miao ethnic group around Zhouxi Town in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture of southwest China's Guizhou Province, hold small celebrations as part of their traditional Lusheng Festival, which ends with the grandest celebration in Zhouxi on the 20th day of the first lunar month.

With men playing lusheng, a reed-pipe wind instrument, and women dancing with it in costume, young people look for their life partner during the social occasion. Since the festival coincides with Spring Festival, people celebrate them together and pray for a good harvest in the new year.

Ansai in Shaanxi Province: Ansai waist drum dance

The Ansai waist drum has a long history of over 2,000 years. Although currently a district of Yan'an City, Ansai was once a frontier town facing threats from the nomadic tribes to the north. The drums were used to warn soldiers of invading enemy, boost their morale, and celebrate victory.

Today, the Ansai waist drum has developed into an art form for locals to perform during festivals such as the Spring Festival and the Lantern Festival, and is popular in both Yan'an and Yulin.

Puxian in Shanxi Province: Shehuo Festival

Shehuo is a festival mostly celebrated in the countryside of central and northern China, for example in the Shanxi, Henan, and Shaanxi provinces. The festival worships the gods of earth and fire as people pray for good harvests, peace, and prosperity.

During the festival, professional troupes and villagers parade along a grand street to bring good fortune to all the residents, and engage in different performances from dragon and lion dance to stilt walkers and "land boats."