Yonghe Road

Chapter 54 Lantern Festival
The car started from Baile Village and headed towards Shajiaqi Town.

All you can see along the way are vast fields and scattered farmhouses. The mountains in the distance are rolling, and the trees on both sides of the road are lush and green. The setting sun shines through the gaps between the leaves, forming golden spots on the road.

After driving for a while, a faint smell of the sea wafted through the air.

"Why do I seem to smell the salty smell of sea water?" Xie Anmin sniffed hard at the wind blowing in from the car window.

Not only has the smell of the air changed, but even the vegetation on the roadside has changed, with some salt- and alkali-tolerant plants appearing.

Zhong Ziqi said: "Because Shajiaqi Town is not far away."

If Xie Anmin knew that Shajiaqi Port, one of the best natural ports in southeastern my country, was located in Shajiaqi Town, she would not be surprised by the smell of the sea in the air and the saline-alkali plants on the roadside.

The harbor of Shajiaqi Port is narrow, long and curved, with calm and undisturbed waters. High mountains stand on both sides of the harbor, and the terrain is dangerous. It has significant geographical advantages and good shelter conditions. It is a natural shelter for fishing boats and passenger and cargo ships. As early as the Tang Dynasty or even earlier, tea was shipped overseas through the maritime trade of Shajiaqi Port.

During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, with the rise of the Maritime Silk Road, Shajiaqi Port, with its deep waters, wide harbor, and no freezing or silting, was able to accommodate large ships and provided convenience for the export of the local white tea industry.

Shajiaqi Town, with its Shajiaqi Port, became a gathering place for tea, salt and alum merchants in ancient times. During the Qing Dynasty, it had become an important transportation hub and port town.

Up to now, in addition to the white tea industry, Shajiaqi Port plays an important role in foreign trade activities such as cargo transportation, fishery trade, ship berthing and supply, port-side industrial development, and cultural exchange and cooperation, demonstrating its important position and huge potential in the foreign trade field of the southeast coast.

If you rely on the mountains, you will eat the mountains; if you rely on the sea, you will eat the sea.

The people of Shajiaqi, whose livelihoods depend on the sea, have traditionally paid tribute to the sea god during every festival. For example, on the 15th day of the 11th lunar month, Dabailu Village, under its jurisdiction, solemnly presents the ancient and grand fishing festival known as the "Pudu Festival." The procession is magnificent, with the entire village holding "fishing lanterns" and participating. The event is also interspersed with various fishing folk performances, including yangge (Chinese folk dance), waist drums, "riding in a knife sedan chair," "knife dancers," and "The Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea," creating a lively and vibrant atmosphere.

After the White Dew Festival every year, the fishermen in Shajiaqi Town have the tradition of "drying fish in autumn". They pick fish, wash fish, cut fish, pack fish, and spread them out to dry... The rich catch of fish, including fresh and fragrant eels, silver and shiny pomfret, etc., are neatly arranged on racks or bamboo curtains in autumn, outlining a unique picture of drying fish in autumn in the fishing village of eastern Fujian.

The fishing folk activities on the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month every year are the most lively of the year. Not only does it make a sensation in the city, but even friends from other provinces will drive thousands of miles to join in the fun.

At this moment, as night fell, there were more and more vehicles on the road, forming a long queue, which blocked Wang Zian's car and forced it to move forward at a snail's pace.

"Why are there so many cars?" Xie Anmin leaned over the car window curiously, watching the vehicles in front and behind winding to the end of his sight. Many traffic policemen in uniform were directing traffic from a distance.

"We all go to Shajiaqi Town to see the iron branches," said Zhong Ziqi.

When Xie Anmin heard the word "iron branches", he thought it was just an intangible cultural heritage custom similar to iron flowers, and did not take it seriously. But when he arrived at the scene, he found out that it was actually an intangible cultural heritage technique of hanging people on branches.

As night falls and the lights come on, the entire Shajiaqi Town is decorated with lights and is crowded with people.

Because of the large number of visitors, the car was stopped by traffic police four or five kilometers from Shajiaqi Town, forcing people to disembark and walk to the town. As Wang Zian, Zhong Ziqi, and Xie Anmin followed the crowd into the town, the joyful and exciting sound of gongs and drums had already echoed through the streets, and the parade had already begun in full force.

At the front is the majestic dragon and lion dance team. The giant dragon tumbles and the lion leaps. They shuttle through the crowd, sometimes leaping high, sometimes circling and dancing. Their agile postures and wonderful performances won cheers from tourists on both sides of the street.

Following closely behind were a phalanx of folk performances: The stilt-walking team marched in unison, waving colorful fans and handkerchiefs, their feet perched on wooden stilts several feet high, seemingly walking on flat ground. The land boat performance was even more unique, with the boats "sailing" on land. The boats' girls, dressed in gorgeous costumes, served as both tourists and boatmen. They grasped the sides of the land boats, their feet acting as the water and the oars. With their lotus steps, they steered the boat, performed circular steps, short steps, sideways steps, rotated, turned the gourd forward and backward, rocked the boat, and even rolled it flat, the boat moving with them, as if fishermen from a water village were fishing on the water.

Men, women, young and old were crowded together. Children aged three or five, holding candied haws in their hands, rode on the necks of adults, with their eyes wide open with curiosity.

The one whose eyes were even wider than theirs was Xie Anmin.

Her height was no longer an advantage in the bustling crowd, so Zhong Ziqi could only push her to the front of the crowd, then open his arms to block the crowd behind her to prevent people from squeezing Xie Anmin.

Whoever's girlfriend is the one to take care of her, Wang Zian had no business showing off, so he could only run to the fragrant snack stand to buy a few skewers of sizzling squid. The snack stand was bustling with business, and the line stretched like a snake. Wang Zian couldn't even squeeze in, so he could only wait in boredom at the end of the line, his hands in his pockets, when he felt his phone vibrate.

He saw that his phone had been ringing non-stop from the elderly couple at home, as well as calls from his sister and brother-in-law. The red double-digit missed calls startled Wang Zian, who quickly called back.

"An An, have you been to Sha Jiaqi to see Tiezhi?" Secretary Wang Kai's voice on the other end of the phone was already hoarse, but it was still drowned out by the sudden sound of fireworks exploding.

Wang Zian held his cell phone and looked up at the night sky blankly.

The fireworks came from Lan Town on the opposite bank, which is separated from Shajiaqi Town by Shajiaqi Harbor. Although it is called a town, it is actually just a peninsula fishing village surrounded by the sea on three sides and backed by a mountain on one side. It is an administrative village under the jurisdiction of Shajiaqi Town. More than 80% of the village’s labor force is engaged in fishery production, and the area of seawater aquaculture is as much as 1,000 acres.

Lanzhen, a township transformed into a village, has been incorporated into Shajiaqi Town, but its inhabitants maintain a fierce rivalry with the Shajiaqi community. They often identify themselves as Lanzhen residents, never as Shajiaqi residents. Every Spring Festival, Shajiaqi residents celebrate the Lantern Festival with fervor, and the Lanzhen residents, likewise, do so with gusto, as if they were competing with the town residents across Shajiaqi Harbor, determined not to be outshone.

Moreover, the Lantern Festival of the people in Lan Town starts on the 13th day of the first lunar month. Distinctive lantern programs such as bench dragons, horse lanterns, carriage drums, and sedan chairs are performed for three consecutive days. The villagers of Lan Town also prepare plenty of fireworks and firecrackers for tourists to set off together. The sounds of drums, cheers, and camera shutters are intertwined, playing the prelude to spring for the usually quaint and peaceful fishing village.

At this moment, a grand fireworks show has begun on the other side of the harbor.

In an instant, the night sky of Lan Town was filled with flying stars and peacocks spread their feathers, which was colorful and dreamy, attracting the tourists on Sha Jiaqi's side to look up and admire.

But soon, the exclamations from the crowd drew people's attention back to the ground. Before the crowd could stir, Zhong Ziqi had already grabbed Xie Anmin's hand and ran in one direction. Soon, the crowd also came to their senses and ran after Zhong Ziqi and Xie Anmin, shouting: "Iron Rod is coming! Iron Rod is coming!"

The "snake" in front of Wang Zian suddenly broke apart. They no longer wanted to grill the squid and rushed in that direction at the same time, pushing Wang Zian in front of the snack stand.

"Boss, give me two handfuls of grilled squid strips." Wang Zian looked calm, but he was already itching to try it in his heart, wishing he could run after him right now.