Spring Pancakes

On that day, large crowds of people would parade on the streets, including two men carrying a well-decorated platform, with a singing girl sitting on top. In places like Jiaying and Meizhou counties, there were short springs and long springs. For short springs, only one singing girl would sit on top of the platform, but for long springs, two girls would do so.

When two girls sat on top of the platform, one of them would stand high on the platform with a straight wooden board posted on the main platform (the one carried by the two men) and hidden inside her long clothes. Then another wooden board was nailed horizontally onto the straight one (into the shape of a Christian cross), and was hidden inside her wide sleeves. Another girl would then stand on the horizontal wood. Usually, the two were dressed like figures in folktales. For the sake of security, another person would use a long stick to support them so that they could move together with the paraders.

  Eating the Spring Pancakes and Spring Rolls

Spring Rolls

On the day of Beginning of Spring, Chaozhou and Shantou people have the custom of eating spring pancakes and spring rolls. As recorded in "Treasures in Four Seasons": "On the day of the Beginning of Spring, spring pancakes are served with romaine (lettuce), which is called the spring dish."

The spring pancake, which is round and thin, is made from flour and filled with a mixture of bean sprouts, Chinese chives, and vermicelli, although nowadays, the local people pay more attention to the fillings. Apart from the traditional ingredients, shredded meat, omelet and mushroom are also added.

Spring rolls became popular during the Song (960-1270) and Yuan (1271-1368) dynasties. As depicted in a recipe book, first pastries were made as thin as the spring pancakes; then fillings, usually a mixture of shredded mutton or pork and scallion stalks, were placed on top of each pastry. After that, the pastry with the fillings inside was rolled. The last step was to fold the two ends.

Spring pancakes and spring rolls are very delicious and visitors to Chaozhou and Shantou are encouraged to try them.

Author: Jessie

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