Local elderly farmer plows the land with his cattle in spring for the first time. [Photo/qz123.com]

Kecheng district, Quzhou, East China's Zhejiang province was named by the Chinese Folk Literature and Art Association as the "Home of 'Spring Begins' Culture" in China on March 17, local media reported.

The Kecheng Party committee and government have been paying particular attention to the protection of the 'Spring Begins' culture after China's 24 solar terms were listed on UNESCO's Masterpieces of the Intangible Heritage of Humanity in 2016.

'Spring Begins' is the first of 24 solar terms, and the annual sacrificial offering ceremony for the God of Spring, Gou Mang, is considered the most significant traditional event in Kecheng.

Miaoyuan is the only village in the world which still practices the traditional sacrificial offering ceremony.

At nine o'clock, 24 boys and girls in green clothing wear a wicker hoop on their heads and carry an oiled paper lantern, standing in two lines before the gate of Wutong Temple, the temple of Gou Mang, while chanting poems about spring to welcome worshippers from around the world.

At 18 minutes past nine, the worshippers offer baskets of flowers and other sacrificial offerings to the God of Spring and pray for fair weather and a good harvest in the coming year.

Then the ballad for spring begins ringing through the temple, as if spring has been awoken.

Following the sacrificial offering ceremony, the ceremony of the first plow in spring begins. A local elderly farmer takes his cattle to plow the land for the first time in the spring.

In addition to the sacrificial ceremony, Kecheng also established a research center to study 'Spring Begins' culture in China and has held seminars to discuss 'Spring Begins' culture and the 24 solar terms.