A "new way to play"! The 23rd Mianzhu New Year Picture Festival opens

On February 2nd, the 23rd day of the lunar month, commonly known as "Little New Year". The 23rd Mianzhu New Year Picture Festival themed "Enjoy New Year Pictures, Celebrate the New Year" opened in Mianzhu City, Sichuan Province. Citizens and tourists from all over came to Mianzhu City to witness the grand occasion of Mianzhu's folk customs of welcoming the spring in the late Qing Dynasty and early Republic of China. Mianzhu New Year pictures originated in the Northern Song Dynasty and are named after Mianzhu City, Sichuan Province, the "hometown of bamboo paper". Mianzhu New Year pictures are one of the four major New Year pictures in China, along with Tianjin Yangliuqing New Year pictures, Shandong Weifang Yangjiabu woodblock New Year pictures, and Suzhou Taohuawu woodblock New Year pictures. In 2006, it was listed in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage. At the opening ceremony, the sound of big drums and gongs shook the sky, and the parade team in full dress slowly moved forward in a neat formation, stereoscopically reproducing the typical scenes of "reporting spring, touring spring, and playing spring" in the "Welcoming Spring Picture". The "Welcoming Spring Picture" is a Mianzhu New Year picture created by Qing Dynasty painter Huang Ruihu, a national first-class cultural relic, and the masterpiece of Mianzhu New Year pictures, praised by experts and scholars as the "Qingming Shanghe Picture" of Mianzhu in the Qing Dynasty. After the lively dragon lantern ceremony, the New Year picture ladies slowly rode their bicycles, their bright costumes and classical appearances were incredibly beautiful; accompanied by the sound of suona, the mouse bride formation made a dazzling appearance, the wedding procession composed of mouse bride, groom, matchmaker, drummer, etc., all the way blowing and beating joyfully, the humorous performance made the audience on both sides of the road laugh non-stop. Then, the spring officials with fortune bags on their backs walked towards the people on stilts, they spoke auspicious words while taking out the New Year pictures symbolizing "good fortune" from the fortune bags to give to everyone. On the mobile stage, professional actors are performing the stories of "Shu Han Loyal Soul" and "Tang Dynasty National Wine", showing the long-standing Three Kingdoms culture and wine culture of Mianzhu.