The 23rd day of La Yue in north China and the 24th day of the month in south China are the Xiao Nian Festival on the Chinese lunar calendar. Xiao Nian is also called \"Little （Chinese）New Year，\" symbolizing the start of the Spring Festival.

On this day， people usually do house- cleaning. It's said that most of the gods go back to heaven to state their work in the con- cluded year， so people can do the cleaning with out disturbing or offending them.

In our legends， the Jade Emperor， the ruler of the heaven， descend to earth to inspect the world on this day， to see if every household lives an honest， frugal， and diligent life. To show the frugality and pray for the emperor's reward， traditionally people make bean curd， or Tofu， cheap food in China.

In northeast China， people make a decent amount of Nian Dou Bao， a kind of bun made of glutinous millet stuffed with red bean paste. Nian Dou Bao is also a staple food during the Spring Festival.

Many families typically eat pork and cook the meat. Other families， who don't raise pigs， go to the local fair for a hunk of meat. In the agrarian society in the past， people hardly have a chance to enjoy meat except for the Spring Festival. The meat also represents the biggest celebration throughout the year.

北方臘月二十三、南方臘月二十四是小年，人們在小年這天開始進入過年的節(jié)奏。

小年這天，人們通常會打掃房屋。據(jù)說多數(shù)神仙都會在這天回天庭匯報工作，因此人們在這天大掃除不會觸犯神靈。

傳說玉皇大帝會在臘月二十五下凡巡視人間，看家家戶戶是否都過著誠實勤儉的生活。為了表現(xiàn)得節(jié)儉以獲得玉皇大帝的降福，傳統(tǒng)上人們會磨豆腐來吃，豆腐在中國是一種便宜的食品。

在北方，人們還會在這天做很多粘豆包，這是一種用糯米做的豆沙餡兒包子。粘豆包也是春節(jié)的主食之一。

臘月二十六這天，許多家庭通常都會燉豬肉和吃豬肉。不養(yǎng)豬的家庭會去當?shù)丶匈I一大塊肉。在過去的農(nóng)業(yè)社會，人們只有在春節(jié)才能吃上肉。吃肉也代表著一年中最盛大的慶?；顒印?/p>

Do the laundry，bathe or take a good show-er.Those activities symbolize for washing off all the bad luck and potential illness in the up-coming Chinese New Year.

In places like Beijing and Tianjin，an old tradition is to eat a rooster.Most people prefer a rooster instead of hen because of its majestic looking，and believe it will bring goodluck.

It’s a tradition to prepare in advance all staple food for the whole family to eat during the first week of Zheng Yue（the first month of the Lunar New Year）.Usually，the staple food is flour-made because it’s easy to store.The ac-tivity starts from 28th and may last for one or two days.

People from the north make steamed buns with leavened doughs，while people in the south prefer Year Cake，or Nian Gao，made by glutinous rice.The steamed buns can be in vari-ousshapes，including cute animals，flowers，etc.

People in most of the areas get up early to sweep tombs for their ancestors and burn in-cense and joss papers in memorial of them 29th of LaYue.This is also a reflection of the tradi-tionalvalue“Xiao”，or filial piety，in China.

Finally，it’s the Spring Festival Eve.This day is regarded as the most important day for family reunion throughout the year.Children who work or study outside the hometown，re-turn home to celebrate the festival with their family.

The whole family enjoys a big feast at night while watching the Spring Festival gala.They stay up late and wait to ring in the New Year.A must-eat food is dumplings.Elders give kids red packets，or red envelopes，with cash in them.

臘月二十七，人們會洗衣、沐浴或洗澡。這代表著洗掉過去一年所有的晦氣，讓來年百病不生。

在北京和天津等地還有吃公雞的習俗。多數(shù)人吃公雞而不吃母雞是因為公雞外形雄偉，認為吃公雞能帶來好運。

按照傳統(tǒng)人們會提前準備好正月第一周全家人要吃的所有主食。通常這些主食都是用面粉做的，因為易于儲存。人們從臘月二十八開始制作主食，可能會持續(xù)一兩天。

北方人會用發(fā)酵面團蒸饅頭，而南方人會用糯米做年糕。饅頭可以做成多種形狀，包括可愛的動物、花朵等。

臘月二十九這天，很多地區(qū)的人們都會早起為祖先掃墓，焚香燒紙祭奠。這反映了中國傳統(tǒng)價值觀中的“孝道”。

終于到除夕了。這一天是一年中家庭團聚最重要的日子。在外工作或?qū)W習的孩子們都會回家和家人一起過除夕。

全家人一邊觀看春節(jié)聯(lián)歡晚會一邊享用盛大晚餐。人們會熬夜等待新年鐘聲敲響。餃子是必吃的食物。老人會給小孩發(fā)紅包。

In the days between 28th and 30th of La Yue，people also put on couplets on the gates，paper-cutting decorations on the windows，and New Year pictures on the walls of their homes to express their best wishes.

Embracing the first day of the New Year，people visit friends and relatives’homes and make New Year’s greetings to each other.They use auspicious words to pray for good luck in the New Year.

Gong Xi Fa Cai（congrats for being more prosperous and better off），Wan Shi Ru Yi（ev-erything goes as you wish），Shen Ti Jian Kang（being fit and healthy）are among the most fre-quently used greeting terms.

As married daughters traditionally spendthe Spring Festival Eve with their husbands’families，on this day it’s time to return to theiroriginal home and visit their families the secondday of the first lunar month.

Today，this custom is weakened，since more people spend the eve of Chinese New Year in many different ways not necessarily in their husbands’homes.

This day is called“Zheng Yue Shi Wu”，or the Lantern Festival.Except for another warm family reunion，every household also hangs lan-terns in front of the gate or on the balcony.It’s also common to use colored lights to decorate the windows.

In some specially-held local lantern fair，there are riddles written on paper hanging un-der the lanterns.People can entertain them-selves by guessing the answer of the riddles.A typical food on that day for northerners is Yuan Xiao，a ball-shaped dessert made with gluti-nous rice.Southerners eat Tang Yuan，a similar meal made by different techniques.

從臘月二十八到臘月三十，人們還會在大門上貼對聯(lián)、在窗戶上貼剪紙、在室內(nèi)墻上貼年畫，來表達美好祝愿。

農(nóng)歷新年的第一天，人們會走親訪友，互致新年問候。人們會說吉利話，祝愿新年交好運。

最常用的祝福語有恭喜發(fā)財、萬事如意、身體健康。

傳統(tǒng)上出嫁的女兒在婆家過除夕，所以在正月初二這天女兒會回娘家看望親人。

現(xiàn)在這一習俗被弱化了，因為人們過除夕的方式變得更多樣，不一定在婆家過。

正月十五是元宵節(jié)。除了再次和家人溫暖團聚之外，家家戶戶還會在門前或陽臺上掛起燈籠。還有很多人用彩燈來裝飾窗戶。

在一些地方特別舉辦的元宵燈會上，人們還會把謎語寫在紙上掛在燈籠下面。人們猜燈謎以自娛。北方人過元宵節(jié)會吃元宵，一種用糯米制作的球狀甜點。南方人吃湯圓，類似于元宵，只是制作方法不同。