Villagers give a performance of Yue Opera at the Ningbo-Zhoushan cultural event on Jan 3. [Photo by Yu Ruowang]

Zhejiang has planned a series of cultural activities for villagers throughout the province beginning in January to welcome the approaching Spring Festival.

The series of Spring Festival celebrations, hosted by the publicity department of Zhejiang, the Zhejiang Provincial Department of Culture and the Zhejiang Radio and Television Group, includes five visiting performances in paired cities and a gala for villagers in Hangzhou.

A great cultural performance took place in Baiquan town of Zhoushan city on Jan 3, raising the curtain of the Spring Festival activities. Jointly given by Zhoushan and Ningbo, the performance combined different cultural characteristics of the two coastal cities, displaying traditional but attractive songs, dances and operas.

Residents of Baiquan town began the cultural show with a "flea dance", a traditional Zhoushan folk dance for harvest celebration. Seven couples from Ningbo displayed the changes of wedding traditions and customs over the generations with different dresses and sedans.