Confucius Museum, which is located in Qufu, a county-level city in Jining, East China's Shandong province, held an exhibition to celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival on Jan 20, which was also the day of this year's Laba Festival and the beginning of Major Cold, the last solar term of last year.

A variety of cultural relics have been selected from the collections of Confucius Family Mansion and displayed at the exhibition, with most of them making their debuts.

A pair of vases shaped like bottle gourds were on display, which were made in the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). The Chinese characters “大吉” (da ji) emblazoned on the vases mean great blessings and express best wishes for the future.

A pair of vases made in Qing Dynasty embodies people's best wishes for the future. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Laba congee, which is widely consumed in China during the Laba Festival, was also provided to visitors to celebrate the day. The porridge was made of rice, peanuts, red beans, red dates, longan, lotus seeds, goji, and glutinous rice.

In addition, the museum held several entertaining activities themed around traditional Chinese customs in the Spring Festival for children. Many paintings made by children were displayed in an art exhibition.

Paintings made by children are displayed at the exhibition in Confucius Museum on Jan 20. [Photo provided to China Daily]