It was New Year.
This was my second time celebrating New Year in the Northeast.
I had to admit, the festive atmosphere in the North was stronger than in the South.
Northerners seemed to place more importance on the Spring Festival.
This New Year was especially lively, mainly because there were so many people.
There were over a hundred people at Qingyang Temple, over a hundred children. With all those children making a racket, it couldn't help being lively.
Grandmaster doted on the children. Since fireworks couldn't be set off freely, he bought several boxes of sparklers so they could have their fill of fun.
The New Year's Eve dinner was an even more lavish spread. The cook at the Vegetarian Hall was a retired old Daoist hired for the job, and he could barely keep up with the cooking. After all, there were over a hundred mouths waiting to be fed.
It was the liveliest New Year's Eve I had ever spent.
Everyone sat in the main hall watching the Spring Festival Gala.
New Year's Day was even livelier, especially out on the streets. For those first three days of the New Year, we had to take our little senior brothers and sisters out to play.
Qingyang Temple was also open to the public during those days, allowing worshippers to enter the temple to pray for blessings and look around.
Praying for blessings was really just a way of finding reassurance. People felt it worked, and that made them happy. If they truly wanted to ask for something, they had to find a Daoist to perform the corresponding ritual.
Although it was only for reassurance, I prayed in the main hall too, hoping the Three Pure Ones Patriarch would keep those around me safe and healthy, and help the