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Zuoquan: alive with local charm
On Feb. 7-8, we visited Zuoquan County, in eastern central Shanxi Province, to experience the traditional Lantern Festival customs in the local community. With comparatively fewer inhabitants (around 130,000 people compared to Yuci District's 430,000), Zuoquan is a relatively small locale, but what it lacks in size it makes up for in character.
The entire county center in Zuoquan was lit up in colorful lanterns, but the decoration didn't stop with public facilities -- we found that individual homes and residential buildings were also decorated wall-to-wall. In the evening as the sun went down, the entire town lit up, reminding me of boisterous Christmas decorations in some cities in the U.S., but on a grander scale.
In that regard, Zuoquan has one of the largest Lantern Festival displays of any small town in China -- in the town's central square, elaborate lighted displays portrayed mythic tales from Chinese literature, such as the classic fables "Journey to the West" and "The Eight Immortals Cross the Sea." Local officials told us that the Lantern Festival displays had been jointly sponsored by the county government as well as national and local businesses, particularly in the coal industry, and some local residents also participated as joint sponsors.
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到左權(quán)感受最具魅力的地方民俗
2月7日至8日，我們參觀了山西省中東部的左權(quán)縣，體驗(yàn)了當(dāng)?shù)氐脑?jié)民俗。左權(quán)縣共有13萬人口，與擁有43萬人口的榆次區(qū)相比，雖然規(guī)模略小，然而鮮明的地方特色卻毫不遜色。
左權(quán)縣城中心裝點(diǎn)著五顏六色的燈籠。除了公共設(shè)施，連居民住宅也都經(jīng)過精心裝點(diǎn)。太陽下山后，整個(gè)縣城都亮起來了，讓人不禁想起美國一些城市熱熱鬧鬧的圣誕裝飾，只不過規(guī)模不同。
左權(quán)縣的元宵燈會(huì)規(guī)模空前，恐怕中國的城鎮(zhèn)中沒有幾個(gè)能比得上。在縣城中央廣場上，工藝精良的燈籠講述著中國的神話故事，例如經(jīng)典的“西游記”、“八仙過海”等。據(jù)當(dāng)?shù)仡I(lǐng)導(dǎo)介紹，元宵節(jié)燈展由縣政府和煤炭等國家和地方企業(yè)共同籌辦，一些當(dāng)?shù)鼐用褚矃⑴c了活動(dòng)的籌辦。
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