As the Spring Festival approaches, 71-year-old Peng Zuhua begins his journey home. He boards a long-distance bus to Baojing county in the Xiangxi Tujia and Miao autonomous prefecture of Hunan province. In this mountainous region, the smell of wood smoke and cured meat signals the New Year long before it arrives on the calendar.
After he returns, his schedule fills quickly. Following the Winter Solstice, Tujia villages hold shanianzhu — the slaughter of the New Year pig. This tradition serves both practical and ceremonial purposes. It stands at the heart of Spring Festival preparations.
Families invite relatives and neighbors. They arrange long wooden tables and move from house to house, sharing meals in turn. Laughter echoes along narrow mountain paths. Bowls clink as stories flow. Peng attends many of these gatherings. As an elder, he brings both presence and memory to the table.
For the Tujia people, this ritual forms an essential part of the New Year celebration. Families cook fresh pork immediately and serve it at festive banquets that last late into the night. They salt and preserve other cuts, such as pig trotters and ribs, to prepare larou — the region’s signature smoked cured pork.
Across China, New Year’s Eve dinner remains the most important meal of the year. Families travel long distances to reunite. Although customs differ between north and south, each dish carries symbolic meaning. The meal expresses hopes for prosperity, longevity, and peace.
In recent years, smaller households have changed the scale of reunion dinners. Menus now reflect greater variety and modern tastes. However, one element remains constant. Each person holds a personal “taste of Spring Festival,” a flavor tied to memory and belonging.
For Peng, that flavor is cured pig trotters. He considers them the anchor of his family’s reunion dinner. “The rich, salty aroma of larou,” he says, “that is the taste of home.”
Preparing larou requires patience and skill. After slaughter, families cure the meat for about a week with salt and locally grown red Sichuan peppercorns. Peng insists on using local peppercorns. Without them, he says, the flavor changes.
Next, they hang the cured meat about 1.5 meters above the household fire pit. They smoke it slowly over low heat. If the meat hangs too high, smoke will not fully penetrate. If it hangs too low, it will cook instead of cure. The process lasts between 20 days and a month. Families must watch the fire carefully. The wood must remain dry, because oily branches can create bitterness.
When the process succeeds, the result shows clearly. The fat turns translucent like amber. The lean meat becomes a deep reddish brown. At that moment, Peng says, you know the larou is ready — and the flavor of home has returned once again.
