The Longtaitou Festival, also known as Dragon Heads-raising Festival, fell on February 21 this year. Tan Guangming, a 67-year-old villager of Youpu, Shenxi Village in Shenwan Town, was excited because the liveliest folk activity "firecracker-grabbing" would take place on this day.
Firecracker-grabbing is a folk-custom activity with a history of more than 200 years in Youpu. On this day, Tan and other villagers were busy from the early morning, worshipping ancestors and the Earth God, eating "chicken boiled in wine", feasting relatives and friends, and grabbing firecrackers.
As the first in three years after the COVID-19 outbreak, this year's event saw nearly 70 fellow villagers returning from Hong Kong and Macao. While promoting traditional culture, the event has become a link uniting the love of Hong Kong and Macao compatriots for their hometown and country.