China News Service, Taiyuan, February 18th: The "new taste" of "old tradition" is seen again at Jinci Osmanthus and Lantern Festival.

　　Author Yang Jieying Yang Runde Han Xuebing

　　The Lantern Festival is approaching, and Jinci Osmanthus and Lantern Festival are fragrant in the streets and alleys. Various sales stalls are ushering in the peak sales season. Han Fuyuan, a provincial-level intangible cultural heritage inheritor, is located in Changxiang Village, Jinyuan District, Taiyuan City, Shanxi Province. The Jinci Osmanthus and Lantern Festival store is in the front There is an endless stream of people coming to buy Yuanxiao.

Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival. Photo by Cui Lixia

　　Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival originated in the Han Dynasty and has a history of more than 2,000 years. With Jinci’s unique rice planting conditions and persistence in traditional production techniques, Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival has been passed down to this day and is known as the originator of the Chinese Lantern Festival and the Northern Lantern Festival. representative, and was rated as a provincial intangible cultural heritage in December 2023.

Provincial level intangible cultural heritage inheritor Han Fuyuan. Photo by Cui Lixia

　　"Now we have entered the peak period for selling Yuanxiao. We work from 5 a.m. to 1 a.m. every day, and we can sell about 50,000 Yuanxiao in a day." Han Fuyuan said eloquently during the introduction, "First pick, second pick, and third pick." Drying, milling, frying, stuffing, rolling...an authentic Osmanthus Yuanxiao requires more than a dozen processes."

　　Seven electric rollers roared, and the round Yuanxiao danced together with the glutinous rice noodles - dipped once in water and rolled once. A cube of fillings needs to be dipped six times and rolled six times to form a solid spherical shape. The Yuanxiao rolled in this way, whether boiled or fried, is soft, glutinous, sweet and has a unique taste. This "old taste" is what many old Taiyuan people want.

The production of Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival requires more than a dozen processes. Photo by Cui Lixia

　　Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival, the filling is the soul. The filling of traditional Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival requires stir-frying and peeling walnuts, sesame seeds, and peanuts, then heating the sugar syrup to dissolve, adding white sugar, rock sugar, pure natural rose sauce and osmanthus sauce, stir-frying, and then placing into molds after frying. Press and roll flat, dry and cut into pieces.

Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival, the filling is the soul. Photo by Cui Lixia

　　In addition to the traditional osmanthus rose flavor, this year, the store also introduces sea buckthorn flavor, cane sugar-free flavor, and black sesame flavor. "I'll bring another bag of sea buckthorn." Ms. Gao Fan had just bought 8 bags of Lantern Festivals, then turned back and shouted out the window. "I buy Yuanxiao here every year. The quality is guaranteed. It tastes soft, glutinous and sweet. I remembered that I forgot to buy the sea buckthorn flavor. It is sour and sweet and delicious. I take it back and give it to relatives and friends so that everyone can taste it. Tasting it is also a kind of reunion."

　　Wu Jie, a Taiyuan citizen, heard about the sucrose-free Yuanxiao. He came here because of the name and bought 20 boxes at once. "I will bring it to my friends to try. The sucrose-free ones are healthier and easier to digest."

Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival. Photo by Cui Lixia

　　Why Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival is so popular? Ultimately, it’s because the taste is classic, authentic and has been passed down for thousands of years. "Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival is a provincial intangible cultural heritage. As the inheritor, I naturally have to do my best, try my best, and fulfill my responsibilities. I am very happy to see Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival go from being unknown to blooming everywhere." Han Fuyuan said.

　　With 50 years of experience in making Yuanxiao, more and more people come to Han Fuyuan's store to buy Yuanxiao. At the same time, Han Fuyuan also passed on the production skills to his son Han Wei, aiming to pass on this unique food culture and make the Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival famous.

Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival. Photo by Cui Lixia

　　Nowadays, "Little Yuanxiao" is rolling into the big market. Han Wei said: "We have opened up online and offline sales channels, entered supermarkets such as Gongtianxia and Tangjiu, launched Douyin group buying, and sold to Beijing, Shenzhen, Guangzhou and other places, shipping about 300 pieces every day. We hope to have more products." Many people pay attention to the intangible cultural heritage, so that everyone can taste the Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival."

　　Ms. Zhao, a Shanxi native who has worked in Guangzhou for many years, said: "Shanxi people in other places can also take a bite of the pure and fragrant Jinci Lantern Festival, taste the taste in memory and the nostalgia on the tip of the tongue, which is also a comfort and happiness for the soul."

　　Han Fuyuan's Lantern Festival workshop provides more jobs for nearby villagers and increases their income. Under his leadership, more and more local people have joined in making Yuanxiao. During festivals, people rolling Yuanxiao are next to each other on the street, and people buying Yuanxiao come and go, making it very lively.

Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival sells well in the market. Photo by Cui Lixia

　　In the intangible cultural heritage production workshop on the second floor of the "Jinci Youli" Taiyuan Planting Intangible Cultural Heritage Center, which was officially put into use two years ago, masters are also busy making Yuanxiao. Guo Zhiwen, president of the Jinyuan District Intangible Cultural Heritage Association, said, "Relying on the inheritance center, we will produce some derivative products of Jinci rice. In addition to rice cakes, rice wine, rice oil, and rice vinegar, the main ones now are Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival. There are currently 1 million. We have a stock of 50,000 to 100,000 pills sold every day, and our customers are mainly surrounding hotels.”

　　Sanjin Yingjie from Wangguo Village developed Yuanxiao with assorted flavors this year, and it has been very popular since its launch. The purely handmade Yuanxiao fillings are carefully proportioned and fried, inheriting the thousand-year-old ancient craftsmanship of Jinci Yuanxiao. It has excellent production methods, exquisite materials and unique taste, especially the addition of local honey and walnut kernels from Ji County. It is softer, glutinous and sweeter, and the outer skin and tendons are not damaged after cooking, and the golden sand flows when you bite it.

　　As the Lantern Festival booms, industries become popular, and pockets bulge, Jinci Osmanthus Lantern Festival not only becomes a delicacy on the tip of the tongue, a lasting memory, and an eternal nostalgia, but also leads people on the road to common prosperity. (over)