What is Aojiu Festival and how do we celebrate it?

What is Aojiu Festival and how do we celebrate it?
Aojiu Festival is a traditional folk festival in the ten counties of Fuzhou, Fujian Province, which falls on the 29th day of the first lunar month. On this day, every household cooks Aojiu porridge to offer sacrifices to their ancestors or give it to relatives and friends; married women also have to send Aojiu porridge back to their parents' home to honor their parents. If you want to know more about the first month of the lunar calendar in 2018, please pay attention to our fortune teller website!

What is Aojiu Festival

"It is said that on the auspicious day of the ninth lunar month, everyone cooks sweet porridge mixed with dates and hazelnuts. They sweep away all the dust and filth, send off the poor ghost and welcome the god of money." --Lin Zutao, "Miscellaneous Poems on Seasonal Events in Fujian" Every place has its own special festival. This is our local Thanksgiving Day in Fuzhou - the ninth lunar month. People in Fuzhou call the ninth day of the first lunar month the "Shangjiu", the nineteenth day the "Zhongjiu" and the twenty-ninth day the "Houjiu", so this festival is also called the "Aojiu Festival".
In Fuzhou dialect, "hou" and "ao" are homophones. People in Fuzhou believe that the number nine is unlucky, so on this day every year, people whose age is nine or a multiple of nine have to celebrate "nine".
Please care for your friends who have nine. The family will cook "Aojiu porridge" and Taiping noodles for him, in the hope that he can turn misfortune into good fortune, get rid of bad luck, and safely cross the threshold of "nine".
Married girls also have to give their parents a can of "Aojiu Congee" to show that they have not forgotten their parents' upbringing and their filial piety towards them.
First soaking: Soak glutinous rice for 30 minutes, and soak lotus seeds and peanuts in clean water for 1 hour each.
Second steaming step: scoop out the soaked glutinous rice by hand. After re-washing, place in a small steamer, steam over high heat for 10 minutes, then remove from heat, add appropriate amount of water, and put in the red dates, raisins, dried longan, lotus seeds, peanuts, and water chestnuts prepared in advance, stir evenly with a rice spoon, and cook over high heat for another five minutes.
The third step is to add sugar: when the glutinous rice starts to become sticky, add a certain amount of brown sugar (the amount of brown sugar varies from person to person). At this time, it should be cooked over low heat for 3 minutes.
Fourth stirring: After the brown sugar is completely dissolved in the glutinous rice, stir it gently with a rice spoon. When the glutinous rice turns red, you can turn off the heat. This process only takes another minute. In this way, a bowl of porridge full of love and filial piety is cooked.
Burning paper lanterns means that the paper lanterns of the Lantern Festival should be kept lit indoors until the ninth day of the lunar calendar, and then burned at night. This is an old custom in Fuzhou and is no longer popular now. The greatest significance of Aojiu Festival is filial piety.
How many times have we not had time to call our parents because we were so busy? How many times have you failed to buy gifts for your parents because of financial constraints? They never complain, but they are always there to guard the harbor that belongs only to us...
Remember to give your parents a bowl of sweet "Aojiu Congee!

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