The Shanghai Warmth in Tramy’s "Family Culture"

March 3rd, the 15th day of the first lunar month. Inside the veteran cadre activity room in Chuansha, Pudong, red lanterns hung high. In front of a backdrop reading Tramy, One Big Family — Elders and Youths Celebrate the Lantern Festival, seven young people in ethnic costumes stood around a table with several grey-haired elders.

The fragrance of glutinous rice flour mixed with the sweetness of black sesame filled the air. A retired veteran cadre, who had fought on the front lines during the early days of Pudong’s development and opening-up, kneaded the dough with deft fingers. Opposite him, Tang Xiaoyan, a girl from the Derung ethnic group, was learning to shape the wrapper into a small bowl — thick in the middle and thin around the edges, the basic skill for making glutinous rice balls.

"For us Tujia people, the Lantern Festival is like a 'grand New Year's celebration'," said Chunhua, her hands busy. "The New Year doesn’t truly end until the whole family gathers for a feast."

"Making glutinous rice balls during the Lantern Festival has also grown popular in our hometown in recent years," added Xiao Chen, a girl from the Hani ethnic group.

There was Xiaofang from the Lahu ethnic group, and a young man from the Yi ethnic group… These seven young people instantly turned the suburban Shanghai activity room into a small stage of multicultural integration.

The elders, meanwhile, brought with them a different chapter of memories.

"Nanhui, Chuansha, Pudong — the origins of these administrative divisions go back a long way," a retired cadre from Pudong New Area recounted. Another veteran from the former Chengdu Military Region recalled the fiery years of the Sino-Vietnamese border counter-attack: "We risked our lives amid gunfire and smoke, truly laying down our lives without hesitation." He sighed that it had been more than 50 years since he last made glutinous rice balls by hand. The ones he made featured thin wrappers and generous fillings — a "traditional style" unavailable in supermarkets.

Dough passed between generations; stories flowed among ethnic groups.

"So tangyuan and yuanxiao are really different!" one Tramy employee exclaimed in realization.

Glutinous rice balls (tangyuan) are wrapped by hand, while yuanxiao are rolled in flour. This small discovery lifted the gathering beyond a simple social event — a single bowl of glutinous rice balls could hold cultural differences and inclusiveness.

When the first pot of rice balls was ready and served, everyone, young and old, had a bowl. Breaking through the smooth skin, the aroma of black sesame blended with black pork burst on the tongue. "Homemade ones just taste better."

One bowl of rice balls connected history and the present, ethnic communities and the city, heritage and innovation.

On the surface, this Lantern Festival event was a warm gathering of "making rice balls and chatting like family". In essence, it built a special platform for cultural exchange — allowing young people from deep in the mountains to touch the urban pulse of Shanghai, and letting seasoned veteran cadres feel the vitality of a modern enterprise.

Tramy, One Big Family finds its warmth in cultural integration; Elders and Youths Celebrate the Lantern Festival fosters intergenerational resonance. Whether from the banks of the Dulong River or the Huangpu River, everyone can find a sense of belonging in this city — perhaps this is the most down-to-earth annotation of a "People's City".