“Tropical winds warm the hearth, ushering Chinese New Year in Hainan.”

Xiaonian, or Little New Year, marks the doorstep of Spring Festival and the start of reunion.

In Hainan, it doesn’t arrive with frost, but with the fragrance of coconut and a soft sea breeze. Plump chicken simmers on the stove, rice cakes are kneaded until tender. Here, Little New Year is all about warmth: kitchens filled with steam, offerings to the Kitchen God, and blessings drifting through palm-lined streets.

As lanterns light up, Hainan welcomes the New Year in its own tropical way—where tradition meets the ocean air, and the taste of home rides in on the wind.

The “Hainan Through Culture” series is jointly produced by the Hainan Integrated Media Center and the Hainan International Media Center, together with the School of Journalism, Communication, and Film and Television of Hainan Normal University and the AIGC Integrated International Communication Institute.