On Mid-Autumn night, Langtou Ancient Village in Tanbu Town, Huadu District, Guangzhou, hosted the "Full Moon Over Langtou: Mid-Autumn Straw Burning" folk carnival, featuring the traditional ritual of burning straw towers. Passed down for 600 years, this ancient ceremony lit up the Mid-Autumn night sky of the Lingnan region. Though the custom had once been interrupted, the straw-tower burning ritual, in particular, stood out this year as the shining highlight of the Mid-Autumn festivities. At the scene, participants in the ancient village's celebrations were no longer limited to elderly villagers, with a growing number of young people actively taking part.

On the "Lang Natou" Great Lawn, local artisans carefully built a traditional straw-burning tower using red bricks, cement, river sand, and lime, and filled its interior with dry straw and firewood. As night fell, the firewood and dry straw inside the tower were ignited. Flames shot up from the ground, sending sparks spiraling into the air in a dazzling blaze, their warm glow mirroring the moonlight and illuminating the smiling faces of visitors.

Huang Zhiyun, secretary of the general Party branch of Langtou Village, explained that Tanbu's tradition of burning straw towers dates back more than 600 years. Legend has it that the custom originated in the late Yuan Dynasty (1271–1368), when villagers burned straw inside brick towers to send signals and coordinate an uprising—a practice that gradually evolved into today's Mid-Autumn folk custom. "Many villagers who work away from home made a special trip back just to participate," Huang said. In his view, folk festivities play a vital role in strengthening rural cohesion.

The event site echoed with children's voices and constant laughter. Perched on their parents' shoulders to gaze up at the blazing tower, children let out frequent bursts of wonder and delight. "In the past, our village was considered a 'hollowed-out village,'" Huang acknowledged, noting that retaining young people is a shared challenge in the development of all ancient villages: "When the children come back, the young adults come back too." That is the genuine lesson Langtou Village has distilled from years of exploration.

Inside the ancient ancestral halls, junior docents can frequently be seen leading tours, and children also gather there to read, practice calligraphy, study traditional Chinese classics (guoxue), and experience intangible cultural heritage. Just east of the Chunyangtai Arts and Cultural Center, the newly completed "Gengxue+" (Farming and Learning+) Education Center has opened to the public, establishing a community hub where young people can learn, live, and create together.

Huang specifically highlighted the village's choir: "We founded the Forever Sunshine Children's Choir, where children sing their hearts out and have achieved remarkable results. In 2025, as the sole representative from Guangdong Province, the choir took the national stage at the 'China in Children's Voices' event. Seeing rural children stand on a national stage is something we take immense pride in."

This Mid-Autumn straw-tower burning event stems from the very same vision as projects like the children's choir: drawing on traditional folk customs and cultural arts to attract young people back to the countryside, allowing them to witness its rapid transformation and recognize that their rural homeland offers both a solid foundation for a fulfilling life and real opportunities for future development.

以乡土留住年轻人，广东中秋民俗这么“燃”

中秋夜，广州市花都区炭步镇塱头古村上演“月满塱头·中秋燃禾”烧禾楼民俗嘉年华。这项传承600年的古老仪式，点亮了岭南中秋夜空。尤其是“烧禾楼”，这项民俗曾一度中断，今年成为中秋之夜的亮眼明星。记者现场看到，如今古村节庆的参与者不再只有年长村民，越来越多年轻人主动参与其中。

在“塱那头”大草坪，村内手艺人以红砖、水泥、河沙、石灰精心砌筑“禾楼”，填入干草、柴火。当夜色降临，禾楼内的柴火与干草被点燃，火苗蹿地而起，星火腾空、火光璀璨，暖光与月色遥相辉映，照亮游人的笑脸。

塱头村党总支书记黄智云介绍，炭步烧禾楼已有600余年历史。这项习俗相传起源于元末，最初村民在禾塔燃禾传递信号、相约起事，慢慢演变为如今的中秋民俗。“不少外出谋生的村民特意赶回来参加。”黄智云说。在他看来，民俗活动能够凝聚乡村向心力。

活动现场童声阵阵、笑语不断，孩子们坐在家长肩头仰望禾楼，不时发出阵阵惊叹。“以前我们村算是‘空心村’。”黄智云坦言，如何留住年轻人，是所有古村落发展共同面对的难题，“小孩子回来了，年轻人也回来了。”这是塱头村多年探索沉淀下的真切经验。

古祠堂里，小小讲解员的身影频频出现，孩子们也可以在祠堂读书习字、研习国学、体验非遗。春阳台东侧，“耕学+”研学中心已经落成开放，建立起青年人共学、共生、共创的社区聚落。

黄智云特别介绍：“我们组建了太阳照照儿童合唱团，孩子们在这里放声歌唱，还斩获佳绩。2025年，他们作为广东省唯一代表登上了‘童声里的中国’全国舞台。乡村孩子能站上全国舞台，是我们非常自豪的一件事。”

本次中秋烧禾楼活动，与儿童合唱团等项目初衷一脉相承：依托传统民俗、文艺活动，吸引年轻人回到乡村，让他们看见乡村日新月异的面貌，知晓乡土同样拥有安居乐业的根基与发展机会。

文丨记者 郑与时 朱绍杰 通讯员 骆紫媚
翻译丨陈冠臻
审校丨盛嘉