The chinese calendar has observed the seasons with an annual cycle of rights and customs age-old festivals rooted in an agricultural past continue to bind modern chinese societies now more than ever chinese festivals are valued as societal cultural and economic drivers and none the more revered from the 15-day long event stops the world's biggest nation family home and togetherness takes center stage as chinese celebrate the luna new year china's rapid economic expansion has grabbed the world's attention massive investment in technology infrastructure and industry is changing the face of the nation however the boom in business is being paralleled by a revival of chinese culture traditional festivals are being rebooted celebrated with renewed figure,
And are engaging younger generations with their ancient culture in china's capital beijing it's the lead-up to the spring festival or luna new year the year's most important celebration of chinese values and traditions globally it's always been a time for giving and an incredible 1.6 billion packages bought online are expected to be delivered this spring festival unlike most of today's deliveries this parcel still has a long journey ahead design loving coco and her equally creative partner akira will use the contents to create a bespoke new year's gift i know what that is it's a decoration for chinese new year i got it for my mom this chinese decorative knot called the lucky knot is made from a single unbroken string,
And symbolizes good fortune happiness and longevity you see all of them are like stuck together so it means like everyone stay together like harmony and the color red is considered auspicious perfect qualities for a new year's gift maybe we can make something and hang this from it that's a great idea to find gift design inspiration they head towards one of beijing's most famous landmarks the forbidden city is the world's largest imperial palace and this year is the first time it has hosted a large-scale display of ancient royal lunar new year artifacts emperors,
And commoners alike have long shared equal reverence for the spring festival and that's being represented here in historical displays these 10 meter longevity lanterns are being shown for the first time in 179 years and this augmented reality exhibition brings to life treasured historic paintings they have to do a big performance over chinese new year which is like this ice skating but with like swords and stuff pretty cool to like make an old painting painting just move like this right using technology beyond the ar experience coco's attention is captured by a skill she practiced throughout her childhood this is the fool which writes by the chiang emperor he's one of the most famous emperor in the team dynasty,
Who represents happiness good luck is not in the hands the forbidden city is sparking their imaginations but with a reunion dinner fast approaching it's time to make tracks just over 300 kilometers away tao lin ping village feels a world away from dynamic beijing yet the villagers here are also adapting to the times as they hold on to their spring festival tradition is keenly aware that his son's attitudes to traditions are being reshaped by changing technology a generation brought up on smartphones and gaming have drifted away from cultural events like the painted faced held each new year um and village elders like master shu are galvanizing young reinforcements to usher in this spring festival,
And many more to come and his friends an ancient martial arts based performance part of the painted face well foreign have been traced back to rituals that asked the gods for good weather and a bumper harvest the boys only have a couple more days to master their characters before they perform before an audience from theirs and neighboring villages and his friends are the future of the painter-faced chihuahua but they still must prove themselves worthy of inheriting the legacy translated directly means social fire a clear reference to its origins when festivities within the community took place around a common fire the context may have changed but the social aspect of the festival is still relevant as he prepares to take this tradition into an increasingly modern china far across the pacific ocean in new york,
The cosmological new day is a period for chinese refugees to rejoin with their traditional legacy and in of all spaces america's biggest art museum spiral anniversary traditions are zealously being approved on to younger generations to share the story how this ten-year-old boy growing up in chinatown going through all the holidays and little fun things that you know that he remembered so that 10 year old boy is me art director khan muk has been commissioned to design commemorative lunar new year stamps for the u.s postal service every year since 2008. Born in hong kong kanmak grew up in manhattan's chinatown after moving to the u.s in 1971. so when i first came to america we started new york city that apartment right there is where i grew up where the q train goes by that's my little lullaby,
How i fall asleep through that the sound of the train at his current home and studio can mak takes up the challenge of representing treasured memories of lunar new year on a stamp i take most of my inspiration at least for the image for the stamp design it's all from personal experience in chinese tradition the three lucky bamboo stalks symbolize happiness long life and wealth this one with you can see the background is the word folk in cantonese blessing and good luck as a kid in hong kong there'll be this old man who has a little table outside and my grandmother would pay her i guess a few dollars and that's please write me a buy me sun dike in hong kong,
And then my grandma will paste it all around the house kamak is using a time-consuming traditional oil painting technique that builds complexity one layer at a time is this kind of progressively building up layers that makes what you see the technique i'm doing it takes a little longer weeks later canmax stamps are released raising awareness of chinese culture and contributions in the us and then you can see the red ribbon intertwining around the lucky bamboo in chinese is like relationship of family intact togetherness the arrival of the lunar new year an important cultural anchor for the chinese diaspora draws together three generations of cam's family at his mother's new york apartment,
I still come here every week because my mother's still living in chinatown sometimes i see people i recognize as a kid it's refreshing when i see old faces coming back a lot of fond memories and at the new york city lunar new year parade new memories are made as cam joins the procession to showcase his stamp design as a 10 year boy i never imagined that i did a stand for the u.s postal service and having to be part of the way in chinatown walking back to the neighborhood when i first came to america it's pretty special guys get the stamp it's out the lunar new year stamp so that's them me more than just celebrating the lunar new year we also acknowledging the chinese american gave a lot to build this country i hope that my generation and my kitchen continue the traditions that is so rich,
And so beautiful back in the beijing basement workshop koko and akira are handcrafting a spring festival gift for coco's parents do we want to make it out of wood yeah can we do that cut this out of another piece of wood hopefully that doesn't go wrong this plus these two great fortunate super fortunate very decent existing for my mother so this is my primary time doing any chinese typescripts so it's really really tough i just want chinese persons to just escalate what i'm trying to do it's good chinese households have been pasting up foo symbols during the spring festival since the song dynasty which began more than a thousand years ago akira is aiming to take it up a notch by turning coco's calligraphy into woodwork it's looking really good is it okay good and this bit looks like it's really hand written so red means really lucky and healthy and wealthy that's why most people wear red over chinese new year.
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