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In the past, because people had leisure, the Lantern Festival was more lively than the Spring Festival. It was a major festival that lasted from the 13th to the 17th of the first lunar month.

Later, after the founding of the People's Republic of China, it became no longer feasible to advocate changing customs.

There is no holiday on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, and no one organizes public activities. Gradually, the Lantern Festival is not taken seriously.

However, in the minds of ordinary people, because the Lantern Festival is too close to the New Year and it does not fall out of the first lunar month, it can still be regarded as the New Year.

According to everyone's tacit custom, it seems that the entire New Year can only be celebrated after the Lantern Festival.

Because of this, even though there is only a three-day holiday during the Spring Festival, Ning Weimin still wants to hold the New Year garden party until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

Besides, this year is a bit special.

First, many units artificially combine the Spring Festival holiday and the two weekend holidays.

This is the first time that most workers in the capital can take a five-day break. This is the modern Golden Week.

It is completely foreseeable how strong the people's interest in visiting temple fairs and desire to spend money will be.

Second, Ning Weimin has announced plans to hold the first Temple of Heaven Lantern Festival around the Mid-Autumn Festival and National Day this year.

And following the format of the "Sculpture Art Exhibition", the United Artists Association solicited lantern entries from all over the country and set generous bonuses, striving to create another "public welfare" cultural event with social influence.

So in order to accumulate some experience and be able to cope with large-scale lantern festivals in autumn more easily, of course it is necessary to preview it in advance at this New Year garden party.

You can adapt to the situation and practice your skills at the same time. This is called the best of both worlds.

So he chose the corridor connecting the Prayer for Grain Altar and Beishen Kitchen as the place to display the lanterns, and also held lantern riddle activities.

This adds another unique scenery to the two routes of the New Year Garden Party North and East Routes at the Temple of Heaven.

Needless to say, almost all the lanterns hung here are produced by the Jingcheng Art Red Lantern Factory.

Who told them that they were the most experienced lamp-making company in the capital and a service provider that had long-term cooperation with the Temple of Heaven and Tan Palace?

The technical background and tacit understanding of cooperation are now in full swing.

Although Ning Weimin finally finalized the plan for the lantern activity after New Year's Day, for the palace lantern factory, they had to work overtime to make the lanterns.

However, the whole factory still had no complaints and responded with a particularly positive attitude.

Although things were in a hurry, there was no time to make a particularly large lantern.

However, the palace lantern factory still tried its best to produce all kinds of lanterns in different sizes, heights, circles, materials, forms, and colors.

Not only are there traditional gauze, glass, and horn lamps, but there are also Western lamps, and there is absolutely no make-do.

These lamps are even painted with ancient legends and stories, such as Kingdoms, Three Kingdoms, Journey to the West, Fengshen, Red Mansions, Water Margin, Liaozhai, Legend of Jingzhong, Three Heroes and Five Righteousnesses, etc., or flowers, or birds and animals, etc., all of which are colorful and wonderful.

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The Palace Lantern Factory even gave Ning Weimin a big surprise and took the initiative to send a batch of ice lanterns to the Temple of Heaven.

To be honest, Ning Weimin always thought that ice lanterns were carved with modern power tools, otherwise it would be difficult to complete.

However, the wisdom of the ancients is not what modern people can imagine.

Yes! In the past, it was difficult for ancient people to create large ice lanterns.

However, it is possible to create an ice lantern that is no more than the height of a person, and it is even extremely convenient, saving worry and effort.

Why?

This is because ice lanterns in the past were made by spraying water on a mold.

There was a batch of ice lantern molds from the late Qing Dynasty and the Republic of China in the warehouse of the Palace Lantern Factory. Xu Pingzhi, the director of the factory, ordered them all to be found.

Although a lot of them were broken, what needed to be repaired was repaired and what could be used was used. In the end, more than forty kinds of ice lanterns were made.

There are ship-shaped ones, palace ones, flowers, animals and figures. In terms of styles, they are quite colorful.

The effect is even more amazing. For example, the belly of Maitreya Buddha with a big belly is empty.

Put the candle in from the back, and once it is lit, it is like having the Buddha's heart, and the entire Maitreya Buddha will be illuminated, very crystal clear and beautiful.

And the way he grinned and exposed his belly button was exactly the same as in the painting.

Another example is a turtle-shaped ice lantern, which imitates a turtle carrying a stele.

On the crystal clear turtle, four candles can be lit to illuminate the turtle in all directions.

But the most beautiful thing is the row of ladies, all of them are life-size, with different postures, and all of them are extremely beautiful.

And each hand held an ice lamp.

The red burning candle was placed in it, just enough to light up their faces.

Imagine that these ice lanterns are gathered under the corridor. If they are lit together at night, what effect will it have?

Isn’t it just like the stars in the blue sky!

Even during the day, on snowy or cloudy days, if you light them up, they will still be sparkling and colorful.

Although the color and brightness of the ice lanterns lit by these candles cannot be compared with the LED ice lanterns decades later, they are better than the "Kit Kat".

First of all, these ice lantern models are the product of experience.

The classic shape has been circulated and improved for countless years, and the lighting settings are very scientific.

Secondly, the quality of the molded ice lamp is constant, convenient and fast.

As long as the mold is not bad and the weather is cold enough, you can freeze one overnight, and the result will be the same every time.

Coupled with the saying "water and fire are incompatible", it becomes even more obvious that this kind of traditional ice lantern is delicious enough.

Not to mention that tourists who come to the promenade will be very interested in such ice lanterns. Everyone wants to see the rare thing of lighting up lanterns in the ice when the sky darkens in the evening.

Even Ning Weimin himself was extremely excited when he saw these ice lanterns for the first time.

At that time, I couldn't help but blame Xu Pingzhi for hiding his secrets.

For no other reason than because in Ning Weimin's heart, such ice lanterns perfectly complement the artistic ice sculptures of Tan Palace Restaurant.

You know, the ice sculpture required for a large banquet often requires two chefs with exquisite carving skills to work together for half a day.

What's more, no matter how big the size is, there is no ice sculpture as tall as a person.

But if there is such an ice lantern model, ordinary people can operate it, wouldn't it save a lot of trouble?

Even in this winter evening, you can place such ice lanterns in the Beishenchu ​​yard as outdoor lighting to suit the occasion.

When it comes to the work efficiency of reducing complexity to simplicity, this is simply the difference between a bow and arrow and a musket.

So Ning Weimin then spoke to the palace lantern factory and wanted to use the mold of four ladies to make it.

Wait until the weather gets warmer before returning.

Naturally, the Palace Lantern Factory agreed 100%, and even took the initiative to send employees to guide the ice lantern casting molds.

The factory director Xu Pingzhi is quite clear about it.

He knew that it was only good luck that he could meet such a big customer as Ning Weimin, so that his factory could live a good life.

What's more, he is still thinking about making a name for himself during the Temple of Heaven Lantern Festival during the Mid-Autumn Festival.

What's the point of borrowing a few ice lantern molds?

It was Ning Weimin who gave him face when he said he wanted to borrow money.

It stands to reason that when someone opens their mouth, they should give it away for free.

In short, the promenade of the Temple of Heaven, because of the lanterns hanging on the corridor and the ice lanterns displayed under the corridor, has successfully attracted tourists from all over the world.

In addition, the corridor is also a fork in the road, and a colorful pavilion is arranged to provide free tea.

There are also several greenhouses selling festive food "Jinfang Yuanxiao", as well as "revolving lanterns", "auspicious lanterns", "angsty wind lanterns" produced by the palace lantern factory, as well as paper lanterns with the images of lions, dogs, sheep, rabbits and other animals.

This makes this area even more crowded with tourists.

While buying Yuanxiao, many adults also buy paper lanterns for their children to hold, or rabbit lanterns to play with, and then drag their families around to play, creating a scene of walking around with lanterns and lanterns.

Of course, the most attractive thing is the lantern riddle guessing activity.

Lantern riddles are called "guessing men" among the people in Beijing.

In the past, it was called "Denglanhu", which means it is difficult to guess, just like a hunter shooting a tiger.

Originally, it was an interactive activity to increase knowledge, exercise intelligence, sharpen people's thinking, and activate the festive atmosphere.

In all dynasties, from ancient times to the present, it has always had the most mass base.

Not to mention that there are prizes for playing lantern riddles at the Temple of Heaven Garden, and guessing is not free, so it is a great fun worth participating in.

In particular, it is extremely convenient to redeem prizes, and the security measures are also in place.

In order to prevent tourists from blocking the road and preventing people from being squeezed down the high steps of the promenade in crowded conditions.

There are a total of four prize redemption service desks set up in the corridor of the Temple of Heaven Garden, all of which are staffed by staff.

There are also police and park security officers patrolling the area to divert crowds.

When the three people from the Ditan arrived here for the first time, they were dazzled by the colorful lanterns hanging all over the corridor.
To be continued...