Brown sugar is an essential food for the Spring Festival in Fu'an, a county-level city in Southeast China's Fujian province.

Some factories in the city still stick to producing brown sugar manually. Sugar cane juice exacted from sugarcane is heated and constantly stirred in a pot until it becomes syrup. The heating process usually takes about four hours.

People collect sugarcanes for sugar factory in Hongkou Village of Xitan Township in Fu'an, Southeast China's Fujian province, on Dec 9. [Photo/Xinhua]

Workers heat sugar crane juice at a brown sugar workshop in Hongkou Village of Xitan Township in Fu'an, Southeast China's Fujian Province, Dec 9. [Photo/Xinhua]