The Chinese New Year is now popularly known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the beginning of spring.It is one of the important traditional festivals celebrated by the Han people and many of the ethnic minorities of China on the first day of the first lunar1month.According to the Han custom,the festival usually lasts from the eighth of the twelfth lunar month of the old year up to the fifteenth of the first lunar month of the new year.Its origin is too early to be traced.Several explanations are available.Some believe,however,that the wordNian(年),which in modern Chinese means“year”,is originally the name of a monstrous beast that started to eat people the night before the beginning of a new year.

Legends

One legend goes that the beast Nian,with a very big mouth,was extremely fierce,which made people scared.But people found that the red color and the noise of firecrackers would scare away Nian.So people chose to put up red paper decorations on their windows and doors at the end of each year to scare away Nian in case it came back again.From then on,the tradition of observing the conquer of Nian is carried on from generation to generation.The termGuonian,which may mean“Survive the Nian”,means “Celebrate the (new) Year”today as the wordguoin Chinese means“pass-over”or“observe”.The custom of putting up red paper and setting off firecrackers to scare away Nian continues today.

Through thousands of years'development,customs are spreading far and wide.Sweeping the dust is widely accepted as New Year cleaning.“Dust”shares the same sound withchen(陳)in Chinese,which means old and past.In this way,“sweeping the dust”before the Spring Festival means a thorough cleaning of houses to sweep away bad luck in the past year.This custom shows a good wish of putting away old things to welcome a new life.

After the house is thoroughly cleaned,some decorations follow.Putting up Spring Festival couplets (春 聯(lián)) is a very popular way of decorating house in China.It consists of two lines of Chinese characters on both sides of the door and one short line above the door.And all the lines convey the idea of good luck.In the past,the Chinese people usually wrote their own couplets with a brush or asked others to do it for themselves.Nowadays,it is common for people to buy the printed couplets in the market.In addition to the Spring Festival couplets,it is common for the Chinese to put up paper-cuts and the characterfu(福) on walls,doors and the windows around the house.Fushows people's longing for a good life.Do you still remember Fuwa—the Beijing Olympic mascots2? Some people even invert the characterfuto show that blessing has arrived because“inverted”is a homophone3for“arrive”in Chinese.

Activities

1.Waiting for the New Year

Th roughout New Year's Eve,all members of a family get together to enjoy themselves through various entertainments while all rooms are decorated by red candles and colorful lanterns.This custom is referred to as“waiting for the New Year”,an expression of a strong attachment to the old year and looking forward to the coming new year.However,now there are fewer and fewer people in cities who will stay up late to see New Year in.

2.Taking a family reunion feast4

As we know,the festive activities are various and colorful.Taking a family reunion feast is a symbol of a family reunion.Even those on business would hurry back for it.Two typical foods on the menu are the New Year cake for the southerners andjiaozifor the northerners.Both foods symbolize luck,as the Chinese term for the New Year cake isniangao(年糕),which has the same sound as the Chinese expression meaning“senior”.The shape ofjiaoziis like ancient Chinese currency made of gold,so people eat them and wish for money and treasure.The tradition of havingjiaoziis very important during the Spring Festival.You cannot have a complete Spring Festival without havingjiaozi.

3.Watching the CCTV New Year's Gala

You may wonder what the family members usually do while taking the family reunion feast.The CCTV (China Central Television) New Year's Gala in China ranks the first in the audience rating on the New Year's Eve.The New Year's Gala is a variety show held by CCTV since 1983.Every year since then on the lunar New Year's Eve,the program begins at 8 p.m.and lasts five to six hours.It brings laughter to billions of people,creates many popular words and produces lots of TV phenomena.For over thirty years,its value has gone far beyond a variety show.It is an entertainment for the Chinese both at home and abroad.

4.Setting off firecrackers

The firecracker is a unique product in China.Setting off firecrackers is one of the most popular customs among the kids in the Spring Festival celebration.

In ancient China,the sound of burning bamboo tubes was used to scare away wild animals and evil spirits.With the invention of the gunpowder,“firecracker”,also calledbianpao(鞭炮),is used to develop a joyful atmosphere.In the past few years,such an activity was completely or partially forbidden in big cities including Beijing due to fire and injury as well as air pollution caused by setting off firecrackers.However,some Chinese thought that a spring festival without firecrackers was not lively enough and in recent years,the ban was canceled again in some places.This shows that setting off firecrackers is a very important activity during the Spring Festival.

5.Paying a New Year's Visit

Another custom popular in the Spring Festival is paying a New Year's visit.On the first day of the Chinese lunar year,everybody puts on their best clothes and pays ceremonial calls on their relatives and friends,wishing them all the luck in the coming year.Juniors will greet seniors,wishing them health and longevity5,while seniors will give juniors some Gift Money as a wish for their safety in the coming year.When friends meet,they will wish each other happiness and prosperity6with a big smile.With the development of new technology,there is a change in the way of giving New Year's greetings.In recent years,it has become a tendency for relatives and friends to send short messages on WeChat (微信) or QQ to greet each other during the Spring Festival.With best wishes,the warm greetings of text messages give a happy and joyful atmosphere of the Festival.

Temple Fair

Temple Fair（廟會(huì)）,usually held outside temples,is a kind of folk custom in China.During the Spring Festival,Temple Fair is one of the most important activities,in which there are such performances as acrobatics7and martial arts8,numerous kinds of local snacks and many kinds of things for everyday life.In recent years,the Temple Fair has become a place for people to appreciate the traditional art and experience the traditional life.

Festival Greetings

Happy Chinese New Year 恭賀新春

Everything Goes Well 吉祥如意

Wishing You Prosperity 恭喜發(fā)財(cái)

Surplus Year After Year 年年有余

Peace All Year Round 歲歲平安

Good Luck in the New Year 新春大吉

Notes

1.lunaradj.陰歷的

2.mascotn.吉祥物

3.homophonen.同音異形異義詞

4.feastn.宴席

5.longevityn.長壽

6.prosperityn.繁榮；成功

7.acrobaticn.雜技

8.martial artsn.武術(shù)