By CGTN’s Ruben Rodriguez

Popular traditional crafts are one of the main reasons why the Spring Festival holds such a special place in the hearts and minds of the Chinese people. Despite cold weather throughout the last month of the lunar calendar, families in the old districts of Beijing get out of their houses to enjoy precious time together with some of the crafts, and get the folk culture passed on to the next generation.

Traditional customs are especially sweet in the capital. Sugar-coated haw skewers are called “Tang Hulu” in Chinese. Making them is one of the many old professions that communities in this part of China want to preserve. Beijing residents claim that eating the treat is one of their treasured childhood memories. 

What the residents need to do is to pierce the fruit onto skewers and carefully put them inside a pan filled with hot water and sugar. That is how the core of the haw gets mushy and its exterior gets candied. Tang Hulu stands are common in markets and squares all over the city. While children learn the techniques of making them, adults can take a sneaky bite at the fruit that reminds them of their childhood. 

Another traditional custom is to manually print in red paper the Chinese character “Fu” by using its shape, ink and a brush. It is called "Shua Fuzi" in Chinese. The result is then hanged on doors as a way of letting happiness enter the household. The character’s original meaning is connected to luck and health. 

“Chui Tangren” is also a traditional custom that even kids want to preserve. It is the Chinese name of the “sugar man” who inflates little sugary balls through a thin straw while pinching and pulling parts of it by hand. The man can make the twelve animal signs in the Chinese zodiac out of a thick mash made of sugar. 

"Our teacher taught us at school that popular customs are traditions that have many, many years of history. They represent the collective intelligence of our ancestors, that is why I believe we need to pass them on and make them more popular,” said a Beijing girl.

That is how the legacy of popular customs is passed on during the Spring Festival season. Memories of these enjoyable family times will be treasured in the hearts and minds of the children throughout their lives.