Spring Festival marks the beginning of a lunar year and is also the most important festival in rural areas. Generally, the villagers who work in other places will return home before 15th of the 12th lunar month.

On the 22nd of the 12th lunar month,the villagers will "reward the god" for blessing their families in the year by bringing sacrificial offerings, e.g. fish and roasted pigs, to Beiji Hall of the village temple and burning incenses there. After rewarding the god, the villagers will distribute pork in Beiji Hall and then take it back home to enjoy. "Taiping Pig" (apigof the meaning ofa peaceful life) is also distributed to the nonlocal odd-job workers in the village.

On the 23rd of the 12th lunar month, the villagers will offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God. The sacrificial offerings are bound to include sugar slices so that the Kitchen God will speak more good words for the families when delivering a report to the heaven.

Before the Spring Festival, the villagers must first "clean their houses" and courtyard thoroughly. What is especially important is the annual "washing of Buddha", meaning that the clean water containing immersed shaddock leaves will be used to wash the joss that has been enshrined and fumed by candle smoke for one year so that the Buddha can be neat and tidy in a new year The day typically falls on the 28th of the 12th lunar month, and it is alsocalled the "Dirty Cleaning Day". Also on the day, the villagers will hold a worship ceremony in the village temple and offer sacrifices to the KitchenGod and the Land God at the four entrances of the village. Men typically will have their hair cut before the day to avoid haircut in the lunar January.

Nextis to"do shopping for the Spring Festival".Villagers will buy the new clothes, food, candies, etc. necessary forthe festival. They will also ask those adept in calligraphy to write "Chuan Lian"(Spring Festival couplets) and all types of auspicious remarks, which are then put up on doors and indoors. Women will start to become busy with "making New Year cakes", which are generally made of yellow sugar and glutinous rice flour. The largest batch of the year ever cooked in a steamer should be put on the altar at the center of the hall. On the cakes, oranges and Lai See (lucky money) will be placed to pray for promotion and good luck in the coming year. "Jian Dui", a deep fried round dim sum, which implies good omen, is also anessentialdessert.

In the evening of the New Year's eve, all family members will gather for a family reunion dinner. Even the family members who work in other places will also get back home for the "Tuan Nian" (reunion).

On the first day of the lunar January, all households will touch off firecrackers to "usher in the year"; neighbors will "pay New Year's call" to each other; children will "Dou Lai See"(ask for red packet) hither and thither. In the morning, the villagers will go to the village temple to worship gods and make a wish. On the day, cleaning activities, e.g. sweeping, are generally not allowed to avoid sweeping away the good fortune and goodluck. As described in Volume V "Land • Customs" of the Xiangshan County Annals in the years of Emperor Tongzhi: "On Yuan Ri (i.e. the first day of the lunar January), people pay New Year call and touch off firecrackers, but are prohibited from sprinkling water and sweeping floor." Generally, people have the habit of avoiding eating meat on the day. It is said that eating vegetables on the day is equal to doing so all the year round and can accumulate virtue.

The second day of the lunar January is commonly known as "opening of the year". Most families, shops and restaurants will offer sacrifices to the God of Wealth on the day to pray for wealth and good business in the coming year. The villagers will bring their wives and children to the parental homes of the wives for a New Year's call and will not return until after supper.

The third day of the lunar January is commonly known as "Chi Kou". It is said that people are easy to have a quarrel with others on the day. Therefore, they generally will not go out on the day for a New Year's call to avoid any quarrel. These are the foodstuffs eaten by the locals during the Spring Festival, including Jian Dui and New Year cakes.

After spring begins, the villagers will go to the village temple for "An Fu", meaning making a wish before God to hope for favorable climatic conditions, safety and good health in the coming year. If the Buddha can give blessing, they will surely burn pigs to "reward the God" at the end of the year.

The 7th day of the lunar January is commonly known as the "People's Day" and also a "Lamp Festival" for all clans of Cuiheng Village. The families that have a newborn baby boy in the previous year will make festive lantens and hang them in the ancestral temple of their own clan and in their own residences, which is known as "Lantern Hanging" or "Lighting Up". Meanwhile, the name of a baby boy will be recorded in the Family Tree of a clan in the ancestral temple, andafterwards the baby will formally become a member of the clan. After the memorial ceremonies in spring and autumn as well as the various rituals, the participants are eligible to receive a piece of the "Taai GungPork" distributedby the grandpa. Such habit of lighting up is highly popular in Zhongshan, but the villages differ in the time of holding the activity. Just as described in Xiangshan County Annals: "During the lantern festival in the first lunar month, those who have a new baby born into the family will hang a lantern in their ancestral temple and offer sacrifices of wine and preserved fruits to complete what is known as lighting up and lantern hanging. By Qingming(Tomb-sweeping Day), the lanterns are burnt in a process known as conclusions of lanterns."