Expats join locals at a Kaiding Festival celebration banquet in Yu’er Village, Shekou, yesterday. The festival originated from Shanwei City in Guangdong Province during the late Yuan (1271-1368) Dynasty and early Ming Dynasty (1368-1644). In ancient times, the festival was a custom practiced on a boy’s first birthday. Families with a newborn boy would burn incense and light candles in front of the ancestral shrine around the Lantern Festival of the following year to worship their ancestors. Additionally, they would invite clan elders, friends, and relatives to a banquet celebrating the boy’s first birthday, sometimes even hiring a theatrical troupe for the occasion. Today, the festival is celebrated regardless of the child’s gender or whether a family has a newborn. Residents warmly invite family and friends to their homes to share Kaiding Tea and exchange wishes for good luck and happiness.     P3>  Lin Songtao