New Year in Zhengzhou 在郑州过年，一定要做的10件事儿
As the Spring Festival approaches, Zhengzhou is geared up for a festival lunar New Year. To fully experience the festival atmosphere, here are the things you should not miss in Spring Festival.
在郑州过春节，年味儿浓浓，情意绵绵，总有那么几件事是一定要做的。
1 Watching the Spring Festival Gala 看春晚
The CCTV Spring Festival gala is held on New Year's Eve to celebrate the New Year. Since 1983, watching the Spring Festival gala has become a must for most Chinese people to spend the New Year's Eve.中央电视台春节联欢晚会简称为“春晚”，除夕之夜，为庆祝新年而开办。从1983年至今，看春晚，已经成为绝大多数中国人除夕生活的基本组成之一。
The 2020 Spring Festival gala will continue to adopt the live broadcast mode of"main venue (Beijing) + sub-venues (local cities)". Zhengzhou is one of the sub-venues. Whether at the site of the Spring Festival gala, or in front of the TV or mobile phone, this year's cultural feast on New Year's Eve, which has a closer connection with Zhengzhou, is a must.
2020年春节联欢晚会继续采用“北京主会场+各地分会场”的直播模式，郑州为分会场之一。不论是在晚会现场，还是在电视机或者手机屏幕前，今年这场和郑州有着更加紧密联系的除夕夜文化盛宴是必须守候的。
2 Visiting Confucius Temple 拜文庙
Photo: Ma Jian, Wang Yi
As one of the important carriers for the continuation of Zhengzhou's urban memory, and an important place to appreciate the history of Zhengzhou and feel the beauty of humanity, Zhengzhou Confucius Temple, founded during the Yongping Period of the Eastern Han Dynasty (AD 58 to AD 75), carries the emotional memory of scholars for over a thousand years.
作为郑州文脉的重要载体之一，作为品读郑州历史、感受人文之美的重要场所，始创于东汉永平年间(公元58年至公元75年)的郑州文庙，承载着千余载学子的情感记忆。
Every Spring Festival, Zhengzhou Confucius Temple will hold a cultural temple fair, inviting inheritors of intangible cultural heritage in Henan Province, arts and crafts masters to present dozens of intangible cultural heritage items such as paper cutting, micro-carving, clay sculpture, sugar figurines, facial masks, etc. There are also dragon and lion dances and traditional Confucius-commemorating rituals. As the most representative materialized symbol and perspective of Confucian culture, Zhengzhou Confucius Temple gives a special meaning to its water, doors and plaques. Its historical and cultural value lies in its being the symbol and sustenance of Confucianism. Therefore, it is a must for Zhengzhou people and even non-local tourists to visit Zhengzhou Confucius Temple in Spring Festival.
每逢春节，文庙都会有文化庙会，邀请河南非遗传承人、工艺美术大师，现场进行剪纸、微雕、泥塑、糖人、脸谱等数十个非遗项目展示，更有舞龙舞狮表演和传统的祭孔仪式。文庙作为讲述儒家文化最具代表性的视角，它的一池水、一道门、一块匾都有讲究。文庙历史文化价值在于其是孔子思想文化的象征和寄托。因此，春节逛文庙，成了郑州人乃至外来游客必做的一件事。
3 Watching lantern show 逛灯会
Photo: Ma Jian
Lantern show is an ancient Chinese folk culture, usually from around the Spring Festival to the Lantern Festival. According to documents, at the beginning of the Southern Dynasties, Nanjing, then capital city, held a lantern show at the Lantern Festival, the earliest one recorded in China.
灯会是中国一种古老的民俗文化，一般从春节前后至元宵节。根据文献记载，早在南朝伊始，国都南京城内就举办过元宵灯会，这是中国最早记载的灯会。
From January 25 to February 16, Zhengzhou Garden Expo Park will hold the third Chinese New Year Lantern Show. In addition to a fantastic light show, the Lantern Show will present "mirror lands", "mirror palace", and "challenge +VR virtual reality", which are highly scientific and interactive. It will also stage iron-forging fireworks, festivity for the god of fire and the god of land, songs and dances, bringing you into a colorful fairy tale world.
1月25日至2月16日，郑州园博园将举办第三届新春灯会。在奇幻曼妙的光影秀基础上，本届灯会新增了“魔镜世界”“镜花宫”“挑战+VR虚拟现实”等科技感、互动性更强的环节，并推出打铁花、社火巡游、歌舞表演，带您走进一个多彩的童话世界。
4 Doing Spring Festival shopping 买年货
Photo: Ma Jian, Li Yan, Zhou Yong
What other than food can boost happiness quickly? The answer must be shopping!
除了美食，还有什么能够迅速提高幸福感呢?答案一定是购物!
With Erqi Business Circle, CBD and Huayuan Road trading areas in the downtown, and bonded commodity O2O shopping center, Outlets and duty-free stores in the suburbs, Zhengzhou can meet your various demands for affordable and fashionable New Year goods. Here, you can enjoy the international brands and tailor-made services. Of course, you can also feel the warmth of the hilarious Chinese New Year.
市区有二七商圈、CBD商圈、花园路商圈，城边有保税直购体验中心、奥特莱斯、免税店，在郑州购置年货，既实惠又不失时尚。你可以找到国际大秀的感觉，也可以体验私家定制的愉悦，当然更可以去感受热热闹闹中国年的温暖。
5 Learning kung fu 学功夫
Photo: Liu Kebai
If you ask foreigners for their first impression of Zhengzhou, they will all say "Shaolin Kung Fu". As the birthplace of Chinese Kung Fu, Shaolin Temple is a world heritage site, and a major historical and cultural site protected at the national level. It is famous for Shaolin Kung fu which has been developed by Shaolin monks throughout the ages. As a saying goes, “the world martial arts are from Shaolin Temple; Shaolin Kung Fu is the best in the world”. Around the Spring Festival every year, many foreigners would travel across the sea to Dengfeng, Zhengzhou to learn Kung Fu in Shaolin Temple.
如果问外国友人对郑州的第一印象，大家会异口同声地说“少林功夫”。少林寺是中国功夫的发源地，是世界文化遗产、全国重点文物保护单位。因其历代少林武僧潜心研创和不断发展的少林功夫而名扬天下，素有“天下功夫出少林，少林功夫甲天下”之说。每年春节前后，都不乏漂洋过海专程来郑州登封一睹少林武术，到少林寺拜师学艺的外国朋友。
6 Visiting the exhibition 看展览
Photo: Cheng Yan
It has become a custom that people "celebrate the New Year in the museum" in recent years. According to the China Tourism Academy, more than 40 percent of tourists visited museums during last year's Spring Festival. The new Zhengzhou Museum, which has just opened, welcomes the New Year with an exhibition of Emperor Qianlong of the Qing Dynasty. The exhibition selects hundreds of royal palace relics closely related to Emperor Qianlong in the Palace Museum, which are all exhibited in Henan for the first time. With its unique and innovative curatorial perspective and rich types of exhibits, the exhibition shows to the public Emperor Qianlong's achievements in governance, politics and military.
“博物馆里过大年”成了这几年的新年年俗。据中国旅游研究院统计，游客在去年春节期间参观博物馆的比例已超过40%。刚亮相不久的郑州博物馆新馆，以一场“清高宗乾隆皇帝展”迎接新年。此次展览精选故宫博物院所藏与乾隆皇帝密切相关的宫廷文物上百件，且均为首次来河南展出，展览以其独特新颖的策展视角和丰富的展品类型向众人展示乾隆皇帝的一生。
7 Taking a bath in hot spring 泡温泉
It usually rains or snows during the Spring Festival. The best way against cold is to take a bath in hot spring with friends & family.
雨雪天气最喜欢在春节期间出来“凑热闹”。面对冷空气，最好的办法就是带上亲朋好友去泡温泉，一扫这突如其来的寒意。
There are many good places around Zhengzhou for winter leisure, including Synear Golf & Hot Spring Resort, JiangNanChun Hotspring, Chianti•Bay, and Royal Hot Spring. Interestingly, not far from these hot springs, there are always cultural tourism towns, golf courses and the like to let go, e.g. Football Town, Henan Synear Golf Club, Jinsha Lake Golf Club, etc. Sports combined with hot spring will keep you uplifting this winter.
思念果岭悦温泉、江南春温泉、香堤湾温泉、黄帝宫御温泉，郑州周边有不少冬日休闲养生的好去处。更有趣的是，距离这些温泉不远处，总会有文旅小镇、高尔夫球场之类适合释放自我的活力之地。比如：建业足球小镇、思念高尔夫俱乐部、金沙湖高尔夫球会等。运动+温泉，能量值爆满哦。
8 Skiing 去滑雪
Photo: Ma Jian, Wang Yipin
Sports like surfing, windsurfing, skiing, and paragliding all give the feeling of flying. Humans have had a passion for flying since ancient times. When you are dashing forward on the snow, it feels free, as if you were in harmony with nature for a moment.
像冲浪、帆板、滑雪、滑翔伞这种运动，都给人一种飞翔的感觉，自古以来人类对于飞行就一直有种情结。当你在雪上飞驰时，那感觉是自由的，一瞬间仿佛跟大自然融为了一体。
A winter without snow is not actually called a winter. There are more and more places to ski in Zhengzhou, e.g. Zhongyue Songding Ski Resort, Zhengzhou Taohuayu Ski Resort, Songshan Ski Resort, Yulong Ski Resort, Enjoy Snow World. Make the move. This Spring Festival needs a little excitement.
没有雪的冬天，不是完整的冬天。嵩顶滑雪场、桃花峪滑雪场、嵩山滑雪场、豫龙滑雪场、银基冰雪世界……郑州能滑雪、戏雪的地儿越来越多了。约起来，这个春节需要一点点刺激。
9 Hitting the bar 约酒吧
Photo: Wang Cui
On December 4, 2019, Nongke Road, a bar street, was awarded the title of "national characteristic commercial street in China". It can be said that the 998-m-long bar street with over 70 featured shops lights an ever-burning lamp at night for Zhengzhou. It combines local culture and fashion culture to provide a new cultural consumption experience with more local characteristics for night consumers. Wanna kill time in a bar or enjoy Zhengzhou's "night economy" in the Spring Festival? Nongke Road will definitely be your first choice.
2019年12月4日，农科路酒吧休闲一条街荣膺“中国特色商业街”称号，跻身“国”字头“大家庭”。可以说，这条全长998米、拥有特色商户70余家的酒吧街，为郑州城市夜晚点燃了一盏“长明灯”。这里把河南本土文化与时尚文化相结合，为夜间消费者提供了更具本土地域特色的文化消费新体验。春节约酒吧，享受郑州“夜经济”的美好，自然首选农科路。
10 Looking for delicacies 觅美食
As a symbol of unity and prosperity, the Spring Festival carries new hopes for the future. The Spring Festival marks the end of the old lunar year and the beginning of the new one. It is often said that Zhengzhou's old town has the strongest atmosphere of New Year, probably because it has kept the custom of paying New Year calls, visiting temple fairs, and eating snacks.
春节象征团结、兴旺，是一个对未来寄托新希望的佳节。春节标志着农历旧的一年结束和新的一年开始。人们常说，郑州的老城区年味儿最浓，大概是因为这里至今保持着拜年、赶会、吃小吃的习俗吧。
The most authentic Henan foods are hidden in Zhengzhou, e.g. Braised Yellow River Carp, Fried Hericium Erinaceus with Scallion, Fried Streaky Pork, Braised Gourd, Fried and Simmered Shrimp Cakes, Huimian Noodles, Steamed Jiaozi & Wonton, Braised Pancake, Zhengzhou Roast Duck, Hot Pepper Soup, Braised Chicken and Beef, which are worth looking for.
红烧黄河鲤鱼、大葱烧猴头菇、肉丝带底、红扒肘子、炸八块、烩面、蒸饺馄饨、葛记焖饼、郑州烤鸭、胡辣汤、烧鸡、牛肉……郑州城里的地道豫菜美食，值得去寻觅。
