People's Network
People's Network >> media

Interview notes: "change and unchanged" during the Spring Festival

People's Daily Online reporter Yang Bo
February 14, 2019 16:08 | Source: People's Daily Online - Media Channel
Small font size

People's Daily Online reporter Yang Bo (left) interviewed Bai Yongming, the "inheritor of national intangible cultural heritage" and Beijing Cheap Duck Master

Food is the most important thing for the people, and the Spring Festival is closely related to "eating". During this year's "New Year's Grassroots" interview, I was lucky to interview Bai Yongming, the master of roast duck, Fan Cunhe, the little brother of takeaway, and other busy caterers during the Spring Festival. From their busy work, I also really felt the "change and unchanged" of the Spring Festival.

The New Year's Eve dinner is the highlight of Chinese New Year's Eve. I'm afraid that the Spring Festival without the New Year's Eve dinner cannot be called the Spring Festival. During the interview with Master Bai, the most unforgettable thing is that he ate "three big eggs" on the New Year's Eve, a special New Year's Eve dinner.

"It was New Year's Eve many years ago. I didn't get off work until 12 o'clock at night in the shop. When I rode home alone, I was setting off fireworks and firecrackers all the way. When I got home, I was too tired to move and lay on the chair. My mother spread three eggs and three big eggs for me, and I ate them all at one go." Speaking of this experience, Master Bai remembered every detail vividly.

In fact, it's not just Master Bai. In every Spring Festival in the past, there are many people like Master Bai who still stick to their jobs when we celebrate the New Year's Eve with our families. They are busy from the New Year's Eve to the end of the Spring Festival. As Fan Cunhe, the delivery boy, said, "Some people need to go home for the New Year, and others need to stick to their jobs."

Cheap Square Roast Duck Restaurant where Master Bai lives is a famous time-honored shop in Beijing. The shop name means "convenient for people, suitable for living and suitable for home". For people on duty, the Spring Festival is always busy and persistent. It is the efforts of these ordinary workers that make our Spring Festival more convenient.

What remains unchanged is busyness and perseverance. What changes is the taste of the New Year's Eve dinner, the way of celebrating the New Year, and our money bags.

At the beginning of the reform and opening up, a roast duck cost a few yuan, but at that time, eating roast duck was a luxury consumption for ordinary citizens. At that time, a roast duck was evaluated as well done, and it was called "a mouthful full of oil".

Although the price of roast duck has now become more than 200 yuan, for the working class, eating roast duck is no longer a luxury. During the Spring Festival, people come to the restaurant to queue up for dinner, more to feel the atmosphere of traditional culture and eat healthier traditional roast duck.

Previously, in order to buy a fresh roast duck on New Year's Eve, customers had to queue up for a long time in the store. "Some customers had planned to buy only one duck, but they waited for an hour or two in line to change it into two, which also caused dissatisfaction among customers in the queue behind."

Now, we can deliver the roast duck directly on the New Year's Eve by clicking on the takeout app on our mobile phone. There is no need to queue up in the store.

Some people say that the taste of the Spring Festival is weak now, which is probably because the "mouth full" food we ate as children is no longer scarce today. It is no longer necessary to walk on several streets during the Spring Festival to go to a restaurant. Because it is not scarce, you will feel that the taste of this New Year's Eve is a little weak.

Fan Cunhe said that during the Spring Festival, the happiest thing is that customers often say "Happy New Year" after receiving the meal.

Master Bai has worked for 41 years. "From the first day to the seventh day of the year, you can never take a holiday." He said: "After all these years, you have no regrets. You have to love what you do and work hard.

The simple answer is dedication and perseverance, and it is also the epitome of thousands of ordinary workers during the Spring Festival. When we enjoy various convenient services during the Spring Festival, we should say to these people around us: Thank you, and wish you a happy New Year!

(Editor in charge: Zhao Guangxia, Song Xinrui)

Share to let more people see

Media recommendation
  • @Media people, don't be capricious in news reporting
  • These "red lines" of website operators cannot be stepped on!
  • Figure 1 Overview of China's online audiovisual industry
Back to top