Thursday marks "Xiaonian", literally, the little new year. It means the lunar New Year is just a week away. On Xiaonian, people start to stock up for Spring Festival. It's traditional to eat Guandong candy, a sticky treat made of millet and wheat. The Kitchen God gets some, to carry a sweet report to Heaven. A thorough house-cleaning is in order, sweeping out the old in preparation for the new year. Old couplets and paper-cuts from the previous Spring Festival are taken down. And New Year's posters and auspicious decorations are pasted up.