And the couple are not the only ones to break the taboo.
"Spring Festival taboos are being phased out in the countryside," said Prof.
Chen Jing, a folklore specialist with Nanjing
University in east China's Jiangsu
Province.
The professor attributed to the changes to the development of modern
civilization in rural areas.
"We don't take all the old rules too seriously nowadays," said Zhang Zhicui,
a woman in Xiyuan village, northwest China's Gansu
Province. "Many families do a thorough cleaning on the New Year's Day to
welcome guests."
Taboos are expressions of the people's wishes for a better life rather than
codes of conduct, Zhang said. "Many people have come to realize the fact, so
taboos are less binding these days."
As more farmers are working and living in cities, the new lifestyles and
ideas they bring back to their home villages also help brainwash the locals,
said Prof. Chen.
"Besides, the popularity of television, the Internet and other modern
communication devices have also helped change the rural people's thinking," he
said.
Li Hongming, a farmer who works in Gansu's provincial capital Lanzhou, said
he values traditions and folklore but opposes to superstitious beliefs.
"I visited my in-laws on the lunar New Year's Day, though I was supposed to
do that only three days later. There's no sign it's doing anyone any harm," he
said with a laugh.
Editor: Cindy
