Residents make tangyuan, glutinous rice balls filled with various sweet pastes to celebrate China’s Lantern Festival.

Cultural activities, a tradition of the Chaoyang Neighborhood Committee in Kunshan, have been held over 30 times in the last four years, attracting some 3,000 people.

"I attended the folk cultural activities this summer, and I had a better understanding of the customs," said Zhu Liuyu, a fifth-grade student from a local primary school.

As a volunteer, Zhu participated in activities themed around "Autumn Begins" (the 13th solar term of the year), and sent well-cooked dishes such as braised pork with brown sauce to cleaners and security guards.

According to an official, cultural activities take place every traditional festival, such as making dumplings on the Winter Solstice, doing egg-shell paintings on the Summer Solstice, and cooking laba porridge (a kind of rice mush with nuts and dried fruit) during Laba Festival, which falls on the eighth day of the last lunar month each year.

"It's our duty to protect the traditional customs and teach the residents about them. Hosting folk cultural activities is a good way as it not only helps to promote traditional Chinese culture and ideas, but also enhances social harmony," the official added.