How one village makes 80% of China's New Year lanterns
Host: Although New Year celebrations are now over for most of the world, China is still looking ahead to its festival. And even though it's still five weeks away, preparations are already well underway.
For one village in northern China, that means production is being stepped up to supply shops, restaurants and millions of people with one of the most important New Year items, red lanterns. Our China correspondent Stephen McDonald travelled to Tuntou to find out more.
Stephen: Walking around the streets of Tuntou, you see evidence of lantern-making wherever you look. A view through an open door into a courtyard might reveal a small group of villagers making them by hand.
Down the main street, the red lanterns are piled up on top of one another. Nobody seems to know just how many hundreds of years ago the craft started in this part of northern China.
But this one village produces a remarkable 80% of the country's lanterns. In fact, if you're born in this part of Hebei Province, you're immersed in lantern making from a very young age.
Villager: When you see others in your family doing it every day, you get the hang of it quickly.
Stephen: I asked how old villagers are when they start making lanterns.
Villager: Kids here can pick it up from around 10 years old.
Stephen: Trucks come through to pick up lanterns for delivery which range from the size of a basketball to a small caravan.
Villager: We can make lanterns up to 20 meters tall without any problem.
Stephen: 72 year old Bai Junping told us he switched from carpentry to lantern making as a young man because the pay was better.
Villager: Our village is indeed famous. We're known as the Palace Lantern Village.
Stephen: I asked how they felt about dedicating their lives to this.
Villager: Of course, I feel proud of my work. Our lanterns can even, at times, be shipped overseas.
Stephen: Chinese New Year isn't till February, but the presence of street lanterns is already building up to it, according to one man who'd come to see the lantern show.
Visitor: We also hang lanterns in ordinary times, but of course, the atmosphere is better during the New Year period with more people out and about.
Stephen: Back in Tuntou, lantern production is in full swing to meet the New Year orders. In the future, modern production may find a way to match what this village can do by hand, offering the same diversity of options at a cheaper price.
But for now, it's this village which supplies China with its lanterns, keeping an important cultural symbol alive.
词汇表
underway [ˌʌndəˈweɪ] adj. 进行中的，在开展的
courtyard [ˈkɔːtjɑːd] n. 庭院，院子
pile up 堆积，堆放
craft [krɑːft] n. 手艺，工艺
remarkable [rɪˈmɑːkəbl] adj. 显著的，非凡的
be immersed in [ɪˈmɜːst] 沉浸在…氛围中，被…所包围
get the hang of 掌握…的窍门，学会
caravan [ˈkærəvæn] n. （可供居住的）大篷车，房车
carpentry [ˈkɑːpəntri] n. 木工手艺，木匠业
Palace Lantern Village [ˈpæləs ˈlæntən ˈvɪlɪdʒ] 中国宫灯第一村；宫灯之乡
dedicate one's lives to [ˈdedɪkeɪt] 一生致力于，把一生献给
ship overseas 运往海外，远销海外
in full swing [swɪŋ] 全面展开，如火如荼地进行
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