Today marks the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month—the Laba Festival. As the old saying goes, “Once Laba is here, the Spring Festival is near.” From this day forward, the festive spirit builds day by day, bringing us ever closer to the joyful celebrations ahead.

The most renowned custom of the Laba Festival is undoubtedly "eating Laba porridge." This seemingly ordinary bowl of porridge encapsulates the wisdom of Chinese cuisine and its humanistic spirit.

Family members gather around and prepare carefully selected ingredients. Red beans symbolize "sincerity," lotus seeds signify "connected hearts," longans represent "completeness," and red dates wish for "prosperity". Each ingredient carries beautiful aspirations for life. A bowl of Laba porridge is a microcosm of Chinese culture.

Beyond culinary traditions, the Laba Festival also marks the beginning of a series of pre-Spring-Festival activities. People engage in thorough housecleaning, symbolizing "sweeping away the old," and start shopping for festival goods, known as "preparing for the Chinese New Year."

Today, let's savor a bowl of Laba porridge, simmered with the simplest ingredients yet brimming with the warmest hopes. Carrying this warmth within, we step forward into the coming spring.