Welcome Return of Famed Changdian Temple Fair

Beijing's famous, centuries-old Changdian Temple Fair is back with a fanfare ?37 years after it was last staged. This was during Chinese New Year, 1963, when more than four million Beijingers flocked to its 750 shopping stalls, and also enjoyed entertainments and exhibitions while eating their fill from streetside food vendors.

Now the fair, in effect a huge open-air market selling just about everything, has been re-established for this year's Spring Festival from January 24-29.

The fair has been resurrected as part of a general move to preserve and maintain the traditions of "Old Beijing". So important is it now regarded that it will be held at precisely the location of its predecessors -- north-south between Hepingmen and Hufangqiao, and east-west on Liulichang Antique Street, in Xuanwu District. Almost 1,600 meters in their total length, the streets will be turned into pedestrian walkways lined with shopping stalls, performing artists and eateries.

This largest and most famous of all temple fairs -- other smaller versions of which are listed below -- originated from temples' religious activities, which usually attracted thousands of people and, in their wake, peddlers of all manner of goods and services. Gradually it became an annual event identified with the Chinese Lunar New Year. Behind the peddlers came performers and others who wanted to profit from the event. And like the literary Topsy, the Changdian fair just grew and grew.

Visiting temple fairs had long been a custom of Beijing citizens. In the old days they had a choice of eight, but Changdian was always the most popular and influential. It was originally held on open ground outside Liulichang (glaze kiln). In the Liao Dynasty, it was in a suburban area called Haiwangcun (sea king's village). During the Yuan Dynasty (1206-1368), a glaze kiln was set up there.

During the Ming period (1368-1644), the kiln was expanded and became one of the largest factories run by the dynasty's industrial department. Under Emperor Qianlong, the kiln was moved to Mengoutou, west of the city, but the name Liulichang remained. As early as the reign of Emperor Kangxi, Liulichang became the site of the annual Spring Festival fair.

In 1917, with Haiwangcun Park newly opened in Changdian, the area became the center of a busy market which Beijingers loved to stroll. When fair time arrived, peddlers from far and wide came to do business, selling books and other publications, paintings, toys, curios, tasty snacks, and dried and fresh fruit. Old and young were equally attracted by other specialties, particularly sugar-coated haws on meter-long sticks. They also loved the pinwheels, colorful kites in numerous forms, and grotesque painted masks. Acrobats and other performers kept the crowds entertained throughout each day. But it was the chance for some bargain shopping that really attracted Beijingers of those days.

Statistics for the Changdian fair of 1931 show that street stalls in the area numbered almost one thousand, and that visitors totaled several hundred thousand (the city's population at that time was about 1.5 million). The 1963 fair, destined to be the last before this month's, had 800 street peddlers selling their wares along a 1.5km stretch from Hepingmen to Hufangqiao. Items available ranged from expensive pearls and gems to cheap toys and food.

This month's Changdian fair will be sheer nostalgia for older citizens. "A trip back to yesteryear," as one pensioner described it. Performances will include martial arts, acrobatics, Peking Opera, pop music and folk dancing. The final day will be climaxed by a fireworks display, a major element of past temple fairs.

But one of the biggest audiences is expected for a group wedding ceremony in traditional Chinese style. While more recent years have seen Chinese brides opting for a western-style white gown and a church ceremony, this group ceremony will include brides in a sedan chair and grooms astride a horse -- for some foreign couples as well as Chinese.