今年寫春聯的攤位多了不少，看著一張厚實長桌鋪開，毛筆、墨汁、紅紙整齊排列，書法老師傅坐在桌後，專注地寫下一張張帶著祝福的字句，再把寫好的春聯掛起來，遠遠就能看到紅紙在風中微微晃動，上面寫著「春」、「福」、「招財進寶」、「平安順遂」等吉祥字句，讓整條街多了一份文化與年味交織的氣息。
今年的官方組織特別規劃一個區域，讓小朋友來體驗寫春聯，我不確定，現在的小學是否有教學生書寫毛筆字，但是我小時候，有門課叫書法課，國文老師會特別教學生們從認識毛筆、墨汁、宣紙、硯台等文房四寶到書寫毛筆字，現場倒是有不少父母帶的自家孩童過來體驗，小朋友寫的字可能歪歪扭扭，但是我想當孩童拿著自己寫的春聯回家時，那份成就感遠比買現成的春聯更有意義。
現在剛好是草莓的產季，而現做的草莓大福，這幾年來，已經變成逛年貨大街必吃必買的美食，賣草莓大福的店家，也由原本的一家店，現在遍地開花，在迪化街每走幾步，就可以看到賣草莓大福的攤位，當然，人潮最多的還是那家在永樂市場旁的《路力草莓大福》，看著連拿著助走器不良於行的老爺爺，也排著隊等待買草莓大福，真是讓我大開眼界，很久以前，在排隊人潮還沒那麼恐怖時，我曾吃過一次這家的草莓大福，我其實覺得味道還好，就是個大福，我沒那麼喜歡吃甜食，所以，對我而言，吸引力真的沒那麼大。
This year, there are noticeably more Spring Festival couplet writing stalls. You can see long, sturdy tables laid out, with calligraphy brushes, ink, and red paper neatly arranged. The calligraphy masters sit behind the tables, fully focused on writing blessing phrases one sheet at a time, then hanging the finished couplets up. From a distance, you can see the red papers gently swaying in the wind, with lucky phrases like “Spring”, “Fortune”, “Prosperity and Wealth” and “Peace and Safety” written on them. It really adds a mix of culture and New Year atmosphere to the whole street.
This year, the organizers even set up a special area for kids to try writing Spring Festival couplets. I’m not sure if elementary schools still teach brush calligraphy now, but when I was young, we actually had a class called Calligraphy. Our Chinese teacher would teach us everything, from learning about the Four Treasures of the Study (brush, ink, paper, and ink stone) to actually writing with a brush. At the event, I saw a lot of parents bringing their kids to try it. The kids’ handwriting might be a little crooked and messy, but I think when they take home a couplet they wrote themselves, that sense of achievement is way more meaningful than buying a printed one.
Right now also happens to be strawberry season. Fresh-made strawberry daifuku has become a must-eat, must-buy snack at the New Year street market over the past few years. The number of shops selling strawberry daifuku has grown from just one store to being everywhere. On Dihua Street, you can basically see a strawberry daifuku stall every few steps. Of course, the one with the biggest crowd is still the famous shop next to Yongle Market, “Lu Li Strawberry Daifuku”. I was honestly shocked seeing even an elderly grandpa using a walker standing in line to buy it.
A long time ago, before the lines got this crazy, I tried their strawberry daifuku once. Honestly, I thought it was just okay because it’s just daifuku. I’m not really into sweets, so for me, it’s not that tempting.
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