Spring Festival, the bond of Chinese

Every Chinese New Year's Eve, Li Zhaocheng wakes up early and prepares a big pot of paste.

After tearing off the old couplets on the gate to his village house, he carefully brushes the paste onto a new set from top to bottom.

Like him, millions of people display Spring Festival couplets, a customary practice and tradition for celebrating the grand holiday in China.

To the 68-year-old resident of Donglijia village of Xiazhuang township in Weifang city, Shandong province, the tradition of pasting Spring Festival couplets is a passion. He and his coworkers have been printing the decorations for over 40 years.

Their work is a small part of a storied history of red paper printing that can be traced back to the late Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), earning the village the nickname "Hometown of Chinese Couplets". Its products are famous for bearing the Chinese character fu, which symbolizes good fortune and is commonly used during Spring Festival.

Of the village's 200 households, 60 percent are involved in the industry.

"Every year, my peak production period for orders is May and June, with wholesalers coming to purchase goods starting in October, and the busiest period for retail sales is the month ahead of Spring Festival," he said. "Only on Chinese New Year's Eve do I have time to decorate my own house."

In Li's streetside shop, customers browse fu characters, couplets, window stickers and other festive decorations covering the walls.

"For the Year of the Snake, we have created new products that incorporate snake elements, and our velvet products, which are exquisitely made, brightly colored and festive, have become more popular," he said.

In recent years, the well-received couplets and fu have evolved with the times, becoming more diverse and fashionable.

In Donglijia, couplets have shifted from strictly traditional red paper with black characters to include large gold embellishments, embossed couplets and holographic printed designs.