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Are you going to during the Spring Festival?The Spring Festival, widely known as Chinese New Year in the west, is the most important festival for the Chinese people. To the Chinese people it is as important as Christmas to people in the West. Most people living away from home will go back home on Spring Festival.
Generally, the Spring Festival begins on the eve of the lunar New Year’s Day and ends on the fifth day of the first month of the lunar calendar, often one month later than the Gregorian calendar. But the 15th of the first month, which normally is called the Lantern Festival, means the official end of the Spring Festival in many parts of China. Many customs accompany the Spring Festival. Some are still followed today, but others have weakened.
Few days before New Year comes, people all get preparations for it: houses are thoroughly cleaned, debts repaid, hair cut and new clothes purchased. What’s more, all the door panels will be pasted with Spring Festival couplets, highlighting Chinese calligraphy with black characters on red paper. The Chinese character “fu” (meaning blessing or happiness) is also a must.
Spring Festival
People in a small village hang red lantern on the top of the Gate and paste spring festival couplet on three sides of the Gate to welcome Spring Festival）
an old couple are pasting a pair of “Fu” paper-cuttings on the window of their house) (an old couple are pasting a pair of “Fu” paper-cuttings on the window of their house) Gala dinner on Chinese new year eve
Chinese New Year is a time for families to be together. On New Year’s Eve, all the members of families come together to feast. New Year food, including Chinese dumplings (Jiaozi) is eaten. Jiaozi, Chinese dumplings are popular in the north, while southerners favor a sticky sweet glutinous rice pudding called Niaogao.
(Making and eating dumplings in Chinese New Year is a tradition in North China)
(Making and eating dumplings in Chinese New Year is a tradition in North China)
(people like to shoot off firecrackers in the Spring Festival, no matter grown up men or children)
(the night sky of modern city is full of fireworks displays)
Burning fireworks was once the most typical custom on the Spring Festival. At midnight at the turn of the old and new year, people used to let off fire-crackers and fireworks which serve to drive away the evil spirits and to greet the arrival of the new year. Yet this activity is forbidden in some big cities because some reasons.
Paying a New Year call, also called “Bai Nian” in Chinese, is also a kind of traditional folk activity during the Spring Festival. On the first day of the first lunar month, people often get up very early and wear new clothes to pay the New Year calls to elders. In return, the elders usually give them “Hongbao” (a red envelope with money in it) as New Year’s presents. Nowadays, people also use telephones and e-mails to pay New Year calls.
