As the Spring Festival approaches, north and east China are experiencing a surge in demand for traditional delicacies, including vinegar and intricately decorated steamed buns.
The Laba Festival, which falls on Jan 7, is just around the corner. In celebration, residents in Taiyuan City, capital of north China's Shanxi Province, flocked to a well-known vinegar shop to fill their containers with vinegar - a time-honored tradition marking the occasion.
The Laba Festival, literally the eighth day of the 12th month on the Chinese lunar calendar, is considered a prelude to the Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year.
As a longstanding custom during the festival, locals bring their own containers, mainly large buckets and jars, to fill with freshly made vinegar.
"The tradition of preparing vinegar for the Laba Festival has been passed down through generations. Folks here love buying the freshly made, time-honored brands, because the hot vinegar tastes especially good," said Liu Xiaojing, a staff member at a local vinegar company.
"The vinegar is still hot. I can still feel the warmth. This is an old brand, and I've been eating it since I was a child. It has a long history," said Huo Yanzhen, a local resident.
Steamed buns with colorful patterns are also experiencing a surge in sales in Qingdao City of east China's Shandong Province. These creative buns, a must-have for many families in the area, are flying off the shelves as shops ramp up both online and offline efforts, stocking up to meet the demand of the pre-festival sales boom.
At a local steamed bun shop, workers were busy preparing 3,000 kilograms of fish-shaped buns. These buns are particularly popular during this time of year, as fish symbolize good fortune and wealth in Chinese culture.
"Sales have definitely picked up since New Year's Day. We're selling about 2,000 to 3,000 jin (about 1,000 to 1,500 kilograms) daily, and we expect to sell nearly 100,000 jin (about 50,000 kilograms) over the next month," said Lu Haiyan, the shop owner.
"Older people nowadays don't like food that are too sweet. They prefer traditional Chinese pastries like these, which are made with healthy ingredients. They're good for the body, so we prefer them," said a local resident.
In addition to the offline sales, the shop has embraced online marketing, posting short videos of their decorative buns on social media platforms.
The Spring Festival, or Chinese Lunar New Year, falls on Jan. 29 this year and the Spring Festival holiday will last until Feb. 4. It is China's most important festival and an occasion for family reunion.
Sales of traditional delicacies surge ahead of Spring Festival
An international relations analyst has underscored the role of China-Namibia ties in promoting the African country's national development, highlighting the potential for expanding trade, technology transfer, and infrastructure cooperation to address evolving development needs.
Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi is visiting Namibia, the Republic of the Congo, Chad and Nigeria on January 5-11. His first stop is Namibia.
China and Namibia have had a strong relationship since establishing diplomatic relations 34 years ago. Their ties are marked by mutual support, with China becoming Namibia's second-largest trading partner. Leading up to the southern African country's independence, China strongly supported the Namibian people in their struggle for liberation as the last country on the continent to decolonize.
The two countries established relations on March 22, 1990, the day after Namibia's independence. Over the years, the two sides have continued to bolster bilateral ties through a series of cooperative projects, with a particular focus on areas such as infrastructure, energy and natural resources.
Bilateral trade reached 1.4 billion U.S. dollars last year, and China accounts for about 30 percent of the total foreign direct investment in Namibia, official data showed.
"The trade has increased over the years, especially in terms of exports, [which] is mostly mineral resources. Namibia is rich in mineral resources including uranium, gold. And of late we have also seen the exporting of Namibian beef to China and also in the areas of fisheries," said Marius Kudumo, director of International Relations at the Namibia University of Science and Technology.
"But obviously there's a need of improving this relationship in terms of import [in] manufacturing items as well as technology related items. And we also have many Chinese citizens who are doing business in Namibia in the various areas, also big projects in terms of road construction and so on, there are Chinese companies that are involved," he said.
Along with economic development, China has supported Namibia in its social development, bringing tangible benefits to the Namibian people. China has completed several aid projects in Namibia, including well drilling, affordable housing, children's activity centers, rural schools, youth training centers, irrigation projects and aquaculture centers.
Kudumo noted that the bilateral relationship has evolved over decades, calling for more collaboration that aligns with Namibia's current national priorities, going above and beyond the independence movement that took off in the mid-20th century.
"The fact that Namibia is collaborating with China, there are also interests that Namibia wants to advance. These interests are not starting in the 60s, it's about political relations in the fight for liberation. After independence, it's about development, both human development, infrastructural development, development that are intended to improve the material conditions of people. So if China is involved in Namibia, it's to the extend contributing to what Namibia has identified as priority areas in national development," said the professor.
Expert calls for closer ties with China to drive Namibia's development
