China's Most Festive Province: Celebrating Lunar New Year from Eve to March!

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When it comes to the Chinese who love celebrating the Lunar New Year the most, if Fujianese claim second place, no one dares to claim first.

Today is the Lantern Festival. Most people have already ended their long holiday and returned to work or school, perhaps just watching lanterns or eating tangyuan as a symbolic conclusion to the Spring Festival. But in the eight regions of Fujian along the southeastern coast, the 2024 Lunar New Year is reaching its grandest climax—

In Putian of central Fujian, people set up palm sedans, throw sand sparks, and carry deities into the sea, preparing for carnivals. In Fuzhou of eastern Fujian, "deities" collectively "descend" to patrol the streets. In Longyan and Sanming of western Fujian, people dance with hundred-meter-long dragons across the fields. Meanwhile, in southern Fujian, roads to Quanzhou are already jam-packed. From West Street to the Guan Yu Temple, incense has been burning nonstop since before the New Year, and lanterns light up the sky...

This is arguably the most fantastical New Year province in the universe, lasting over forty days with a uniquely Fujian-style "cyberpunk" flair. At its most surreal, Fujian's streets are filled with "deities." Gods gather, humans and divinities revel, and layers of smoke from fireworks create an atmosphere akin to the "celestial realm."

No, we Fujianese are still celebrating the New Year!

Just how much do Fujianese love the Lunar New Year?

Before New Year's Eve, while others are busy writing year-end summaries or rushing to meet annual KPIs, Fujianese are already celebrating. By the Lantern Festival, when most have returned to work, Fujianese are still celebrating! In some places, the festivities don’t wind down until March.

Most Viral: Meeting the "Prince Idol Group" in Fuzhou’s Deity Procession

Compared to the three cities of southern Fujian, Fuzhou, the provincial capital, has long lacked "presence" in Fujian. But this year, it undoubtedly stole the spotlight for New Year celebrations.

Every lunar January, many villages in Fuzhou seem to open a "portal to another world," as processions of "deities" stride down the streets with unshakable confidence, weaving through the "steel forests" of modern civilization.

This folk custom, called "You Shen" (Deity Procession), dates back centuries. On procession days, Fuzhou locals carry the main deity statues from temples to tour the streets, while villagers don bamboo-framed "Tagu" costumes to impersonate divine generals. Others act as the "hype crew," lighting incense and watching the spectacle.

This ritual symbolizes deities descending to inspect and bless the land, ensuring peace and prosperity.

The grandest procession, in Houfu Village of Changle, is hailed as Fuzhou’s "pinnacle," featuring over 300 deity statues and divine generals in a breathtaking display.

On the 10th day of the lunar New Year, hundreds of deities march across 18 villages with the "Seven-Star Step," from dawn till the next morning, as if cleansing the land of evil and heralding renewal.

Each deity in the procession has a distinct style and role.

The "Horse Handlers" lead the way, bouncing energetically nonstop. Now that younger generations have taken over, some even break into viral dances like "Subject Three" mid-procession.

The "Prince Idol Group" at the rear are the divine "visual icons"—the internet’s only true male idol group, famous for their looks. Towering at two meters with sharp brows and heroic auras, their charm eclipses most xianxia drama leads.

Young fans have even assigned them "divine personas." Prince Zhao, son of the God of Wealth, is a homebody who won’t go out without a stylish outfit. Prince Zhang (Eldest) sports no bangs and keeps up with trends, often "holding a cigarette." Prince Zhang (Younger) has a side-parted fringe and is the cheerful, outgoing type, frequently joining processions. Prince Huaguang, though majestic, is just eight years old and sometimes wears a QQ candy necklace. The Civil Exam Champion focuses on studies, blessing students with success.

Other deities, though less viral, are childhood staples for Fuzhou kids. The "Big Head Dolls," often played by selected children, jam to electronic beats. Then there are the terrifying "Seventh and Eighth Lords" (analogous to the "Black and White Impermanence"), who randomly scare kids on the street.

Beyond divine revelry, the procession showcases Fuzhou’s intangible heritage—bamboo weaving, bodiless lacquerware, and pearl-embroidered hats—alongside gongs, divine puppets, lion dances, dragon dances, acrobatics, and live music, making it a moving folk "museum."

The Most Diverse: A Convergence of Deities in Southern Fujian

While the New Year deity parades in Fuzhou are lively, Southern Fujian, with its multitude of gods, intertwines its celebrations even more deeply with the divine. If there were a celestial treasury, most of its wealth would undoubtedly come from Southern Fujian.

For example, during the Lantern Festival, people in Xiamen stack bags of rice into "rice turtles," touching them from head to tail to seek divine blessings, while those in Zhangzhou burn incense and hold deity-welcoming competitions.

Take Quanzhou, a recent tourism hotspot known as the "Divine Embassy on Earth," which epitomizes Southern Fujian's New Year customs. From Allah to Christ, from Mazu to Buddha, both local and foreign deities find a home here.

With so many gods, Quanzhou residents spend the New Year either exchanging greetings or "bai bai" (a Southern Fujian term for worship). Ask them to wake up at 6 a.m. to meet a celebrity, and they’ll refuse; but for "bai bai," they’ll be ready by 4 a.m.

Throughout the holiday, Quanzhou’s gods are worshipped nonstop. Before New Year’s Eve, offerings are prepared for deities and ancestors, with some visiting temples to burn "New Year gold" or pray at Kaiyuan Temple. On New Year’s Day, after staying up all night, they rush to Guandi Temple to light the first incense for a prosperous year.

"Bai bai" isn’t unique to Quanzhou. On the ninth day of the New Year, all of Southern Fujian celebrates the paramount event: "Worshipping the Jade Emperor."

The Jade Emperor’s birthday falls on this day. The rituals are grand: on the eighth night, households set up altars with offerings like livestock, fruits, and wine. At dawn, families kneel and kowtow, praying for harmony and prosperity.

By the Lantern Festival, Southern Fujian remains festive. Deity processions, dragon dances, and lantern displays create a dazzling, sleepless spectacle.

The Most Fantastical: How Long Is Putian’s New Year?

Putian, nestled between cultural zones, has evolved into Fujian’s "most fantastical city" with its eclectic traditions.

From the third day of the New Year, Putian kicks off its "Lantern Festival" with massive carnivals, outpacing the nation.

They charge into bonfires with palanquins, wade into the sea for bountiful catches, stack towering citrus towers, and splash molten iron onto trees, creating breathtaking spectacles.

Stunts like fireball fights, knife-ladder climbs, and back strikes with iron balls are young villagers’ specialties.

From the eighth to the fourteenth day, Meizhou Island—Mazu’s legendary hometown—hosts her grandest procession, with her golden statue touring to dispel evil, escorted by crowds rivaling superstar visits.

The Most Ancient: Longyan’s Hakka Bond with Dragons

Beyond the coastal cities, Western Fujian’s mountainous heartland offers New Year customs perfectly suited for 2024.

Longyan, ancestral home of the Hakka, showcases its dragon love through lengthy dragon dances.

During the New Year, elaborate dragon lanterns parade through villages, symbolizing prosperity. On the 15th, Gutian Town’s 771.9-meter dragon, a Guinness record-holder, weaves through streets and fields.

Peitian Village, with its ancient architecture, joins in with dragon lantern parades. Nearby Sanming’s "bench dragons," made of wood and paper, dance to drums and suonas, ushering in auspiciousness.

The splendor of Fujian's New Year celebrations is truly beyond words. In Ningde, eastern Fujian, there are fantastical float parades featuring exquisitely crafted puppets performing folk tales like "Monkey King Subdues the White Bone Demon" on iron frames, as well as the majestic "Eight Generals" ritual echoing traditions from Taiwan. In Nanping, northern Fujian, people preserve one of China's most ancient folk customs - Nuo. Masked dancers travel village to village with vigorous steps, praying to ward off epidemics and evil spirits for family safety.

Fujian's New Year customs, much like its dialect diversity, vary dramatically within short distances - "different winds every ten miles, unique traditions in every village."

Why do Fujian people love Chinese New Year so much?

Beneath Fujian's vibrant New Year atmosphere lies the fascinating interplay between "Mountain Fujian" and "Maritime Fujian."

Observe Fujian's geographical tapestry: the Wuyi Mountains dominate western Fujian, while the Jiufeng and Daiyun ranges rise through central Fujian, forming the province's backbone alongside the Min, Jiulong, and Jin river systems. These waterways connect inland and coastal areas, creating Fujian's few plains like Zhangzhou, Fuzhou, and Quanzhou through alluvial deposits.

This "80% mountains, 10% water, 10% farmland" landscape naturally divided Fujian into living "folk culture museums." Its historical distance from central imperial power as a "non-strategic periphery" helped preserve cultural traditions dating back to the mass southern migrations. From Fuzhou children's New Year's Day noodle soup (with rice cakes or duck eggs) to southern Fujian's rice cakes and Hakka communities' hundred-meter-long dragon dances - each carries millennia-old cultural memories.

"Maritime Fujian" fuels the continuous vitality of these traditions. With China's second-longest coastline featuring intricate bays and numerous islands, Fujianese have long turned seaward to overcome land scarcity. The ocean's tempestuous nature imbues local customs - from the King Boat ceremony to deity processions charging into waves - with profound maritime influences.

Putian's grandest New Year tradition, the Golden Mazu Tour, embodies the belief that "where there's sea, there's Mazu." This legendary Meizhou fisherwoman Lin Mo, who died saving fishermen, now has over 6,000 temples worldwide and 200 million devotees as the Chinese diaspora's maritime guardian deity.

Like the globally revered Mazu, Fujian's New Year celebrations are among China's most internationalized. In Penang, Malaysia (predominantly Fujian-descended), the ninth lunar day is called "Fujian New Year," when temples overflow with devotees worshiping the Jade Emperor. Across Southeast Asia, Fujian-origin communities gather for similar rituals during Spring Festival.

Blending mountain traditions with oceanic boldness, Fujian's New Year represents 41.88 million locals' grandest celebration while traveling globally through overseas Fujianese. Truly China's most magical and passionate Lunar New Year destination!