February 1, the 23th day of the last month in the Chinese lunar calendar, is known as the Kitchen God's Day that marks the beginning of Spring Festival, the most important family reunion festival in China.

The day also was the starting point for the activities of "Chinese New Year in the Ancient City of Pingyao", a ten-year event listed on the UNESCO world cultural heritage site that combines tradition and creativity.

Pingyao is expected to display the authentic Spring Festival folk culture of North China, including traditional Chinese operas, spring festival scrolls, folk customs, paper cutting, and lanterns during the festival period, until Feb 23.

Ma Ying, 68, retired from Pingyao county's education bureau, wrote spring festival scrolls for local residents free of charge at the opening ceremony of the event, until his hands were frozen red. He said the cold weather can't freeze people's hot passion for the New Year.

"Hand-written spring festival scrolls contain culture and emotions, and they are meaningful in the festival," said Yan Junyu, a 24-year-old graduate student of the Communication University of China who queued to get the scrolls early in the morning.

Tourists can be totally immersed in the strong atmosphere of traditional Chinese New Year by living in traditional dwellings, trying a Chinese New Year's Eve family dinner, making dumplings, writing spring festival scrolls, pasting paper cuts, and enjoying various local operas and performances.

The Ancient City of Ping Yao is a well-preserved ancient county-level city in China, located in Ping Yao county, central Shanxi province. It received nearly 240,000 tourists during the Spring Festival gold week in 2015.

Founded in the 14th century and covering an area of 225 hectares, the Ancient City of Ping Yao is a complete building complex including ancient walls, streets and lanes, shops, dwellings and temples. Its layout reflects perfectly the developments in architectural style and urban planning of the Han cities over more than five centuries.

Liu Yingkui, vice-director of the publicity department of the Shanxi Provincial Party Committee, announces the opening of the "Chinese New Year of the Ancient City of Pingyao", on Feb 1. [Photo/www.sxrb.com]