元旦节的习俗英语

The ancients regarded the day when Emperor Shun offered sacriflces to heaven and earth and Emperor Yao as the beginning of a year.

那算了，我英语不好，就不误人子弟了。

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中国传统节日中英对照 1.New Year's Day 元旦(1月1日) 2.Spring Festival;Chinese New Year's Day 春节(农历一月一日) 3.Lantern Festival 元宵节(农历一月十五日) 4.International Working Women's Day 国际劳动妇女节(3月8日) 5.Arbor Day 植树节(3月12日) 6.Postal Day 邮政节(3月20日) 7.World Meteorology Day 世界气象节(3月23日) 8.Ching Ming Festival ;Tomb-sweeping Festival 清明节(4月5日) 9.International Labour Day 国际劳动节(5月1日) 10.Chinese Youth Day 中国青年节(5月4日) 11.Nurses' Festival 护士节(5月12日) 12.Dragon Boat Festival 端午节(农历五月初五) 13.International Children's Day 国际儿童节(6月1日) 14.The Party's Brithday 中国共产党成立纪念日(7月1日) 15.The Army's Day 建军节(8月1日) 16.Mid-Autumn (Moon)Festival 中秋节(农历八月十五) 17.Teacher's Day 教师节(9月10日) 18.Double-ninth Day 重阳节(农历九月九日) 19.National Day 国庆节(10月1日) 20.New Year's Eve 除夕(农历十二月三十日) 中国常见传统活动中英对照 过年 celebrate the spring festival 春联 spring festival couplets 剪纸 paper-cuts 年画 new year paintings 买年货 do shopping for the spring festival ; do spring festival shopping 敬酒 propose a toast 灯笼 lantern 烟花 fireworks 爆竹 firecrackers (people scare off evil spirits and ghosts with the loud pop.) 红包 red packets (cash wrapped up in red paper, symbolize fortune and wealth in the coming year.) 舞狮 lion dance (the lion is believed to be able to dispel evil and bring good luck.) 舞龙 dragon dance (to expect good weather and good harvests) 戏曲 traditional opera 杂耍 variety show 灯谜 riddles written on lanterns 灯会 exhibit of lanterns 守岁 staying-up 拜年 pay new year's call; give new year's greetings; pay new year's visit 禁忌 taboo 去晦气 get rid of the ill- fortune 祭祖宗 offer sacrifices to one's ancestors 压岁钱 gift money; money given to children as a lunar new year gift culture note: in the old days, new year's money was given in the form of one hundred copper coins strung together on a red string and symbolized the hope that one would live to be a hundred years old. today, money is placed inside red envelopes in denominations considered auspicious and given to represent luck and wealth 辞旧岁 bid farewell to the old year 扫房 spring cleaning; general house-cleaning 年糕 nian-gao; rise cake; new year cake 团圆饭 family reunion dinner 年夜饭 the dinner on new year's eve 饺子 jiao-zi; chinese meat ravioli回答者：王译山川wyj - 见习魔法师 三级 12-21 12:34春节,农历正月初一 元宵节,农历正月十五 端午节,农历五月初五 中秋节,农历八月十五回答者：想吃米凉粉 - 江湖新秀 五级 12-21 12:351月1日元旦（New Year's Day) 2月2日世界湿地日(World Wetlands Day) 2月14日情人节(Valentine's Day) 3月3日全国爱耳日 3月5日青年志愿者服务日 3月8日国际妇女节(International Women' Day) 3月9日保护母亲河日 3月12日中国植树节(China Arbor Day) 3月14日白色情人节(White Day) 3月14日国际警察日(International Policemen' Day) 3月15日世界消费者权益日(World Consumer Right Day） 3月21日世界森林日（World Forest Day) 3月21日世界睡眠日(World Sleep Day) 3月22日世界水日(World Water Day) 3月23日世界气象日(World Meteorological Day) 3月24日世界防治结核病日(World Tuberculosis Day) 4月1日愚人节(April Fools' Day) 4月5日清明节（Tomb-sweeping Day) 4月7日世界卫生日(World Health Day） 4月22日世界地球日(World Earth Day) 4月26日世界知识产权日(World Intellectual Property Day) 5月1日国际劳动节(International Labour Day) 5月3日世界哮喘日(World Asthma Day) 5月4日中国青年节（Chinese Youth Day) 5月8日世界红十字日(World Red-Cross Day) 5月12日国际护士节(International Nurse Day) 5月15日国际家庭日(International Family Day) 5月17日世界电信日(World Telecommunications Day) 5月20日全国学生营养日 5月23日国际牛奶日(International Milk Day) 5月31日 世界无烟日(World No-Smoking Day) 6月1日 国际儿童节(International Children's Day) 6月5日世界环境日(International Environment Day) 6月6日全国爱眼日 6月17日世界防治荒漠化和干旱日(World Day to combat desertification) 6月23日国际奥林匹克日(International Olympic Day) 6月25日全国土地日 6月26日国际禁毒日(International Day Against Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking) 7月1日中国共产党诞生日(Anniversary of the Founding of the Chinese Communist Party) 7月1日国际建筑日（International Architecture Day) 7月7日中国人民抗日战争纪念日 7月11日世界人口日(World Population Day) 8月1日中国人民解放军建军节(Army Day) 8月12日国际青年节(International Youth Day) 9月8日国际扫盲日(International Anti-illiteracy Day) 9月10日中国教师节(Teacher's Day) 9月16日中国脑健康日 9月16日国际臭氧层保护日(International Day for the Preservation of the Ozone Layer) 9月20日全国爱牙日 9月21日世界停火日(World Cease-fire Day) 9月27日世界旅游日(World Tourism Day) 10月1日中华人民共和国国庆节(National Day) 10月1日国际音乐日(International Music Day) 10月1日国际老年人日(International Day of Older Persons) 10月4日世界动物日(World Animal Day) 10月5日世界教师日(World Teachers' Day)（联合国教科文组织确立） 10月8日全国高血压日 10月9日世界邮政日(World Post Day) 10月10日世界精神卫生日(World Mental Health Day) 10月14日世界标准日(World Standards Day) 10月15日国际盲人节(International Day of the Blind) 10月15日世界农村妇女日(World Rural Women's Day) 10月16日世界粮食日(World Food Day) 10月17日国际消除贫困日(International Day for the Eradication of Poverty) 10月24日联合国日(United Nations Day) 10月24日世界发展新闻日(World Development Information Day) 10月28日中国男性健康日 10月29日国际生物多样性日(International Biodiversity Day) 10月31日万圣节(Halloween) 11月8日中国记者节 11月9日消防宣传日 11月14日世界糖尿病日(World Diabetes Day) 11月17日国际大学生节 11月25日国际消除对妇女的暴力日(International Day For the elimination of Violence against Women) 12月1日世界爱滋病日(World AIDS Day) 12月3日世界残疾人日(World Disabled Day） 12月4日全国法制宣传日 12月9日世界足球日（World Football Day) 12月25日圣诞节(Christmas Day) 12月29日国际生物多样性日(International Biological Diversity Day) 1月最后一个星期日国际麻风节 3月最后一个完整周的星期一中小学生安全教育日 春分月圆后的第一个星期日复活节(Easter Monday)(有可能是3月22-4月25日间的任一天) 5月第二个星期日母亲节(Mother's Day) 5月第三个星期日全国助残日 6月第三个星期日父亲节(Father's Day) 9月第三个星期二国际和平日(International Peace Day) 9月第三个星期六全国国防教育日 9月第四个星期日国际聋人节(International Day of the Deaf) 10月的第一个星期一世界住房日(World Habitat Day) 10月的第二个星斯一加拿大感恩节(Thanksgiving Day) 10月第二个星期三国际减轻自然灾害日(International Day for Natural Disaster Reduction) 10月第二个星期四世界爱眼日(World Sight Day) 11月最后一个星期四美国感恩节(Thanksgiving Day) 农历节日 农历正月初一春节(the Spring Festival) 农历正月十五元宵节(Lantern Festival) 农历五月初五端午节(the Dragon-Boat Festival) 农历七月初七乞巧节(中国情人节）(Double-Seventh Day) 农历八月十五中秋节(the Mid-Autumn Festival) 农历九月初九重阳节(the Double Ninth Festival) 农历腊月初八腊八节(the laba Rice Porridge Festival)

中国传统节日中英对照：春节春节，是农历正月初一，又叫阴历年，俗称“过年”。这是我国民间最隆重、最热闹的一个传统节日。春节的历史很悠久，它起源于殷商时期年头岁尾的祭神祭祖活动。按照我国农历，正月初一古称元日、元辰、元正、元朔、元旦等，俗称年初一，到了民国时期，改用公历，公历的一月一日称为元旦，把农历的一月一日叫春节。春节到了，意味着春天将要来临，万象复苏草木更新，新一轮播种和收获季节又要开始。人们刚刚度过冰天雪地草木凋零的漫漫寒冬，早就盼望着春暖花开的日子，当新春到来之际，自然要充满喜悦载歌载舞地迎接这个节日。 千百年来，人们使年俗庆祝活动变得异常丰富多彩，每年从农历腊月二十三日起到年三十，民间把这段时间叫做“迎春日”，也叫“扫尘日”，在春节前扫尘搞卫生，是我国人民素有的传统习惯。然后就是家家户户准备年货，节前十天左右，人们就开始忙于采购物品，年货包括鸡鸭鱼肉、茶酒油酱、南北炒货、糖饵果品，都要采买充足，还要准备一些过年时走亲访友时赠送的礼品，小孩子要添置新衣新帽，准备过年时穿。在节前要在住宅的大门上粘贴红纸黄字的新年寄语，也就是用红纸写成的春联。屋里张贴色彩鲜艳寓意吉祥的年画，心灵手巧的姑娘们剪出美丽的窗花贴在窗户上，门前挂大红灯笼或贴福字及财神、门神像等，福字还可以倒贴，路人一念福倒了，也就是福气到了，所有这些活动都是要为节日增添足够的喜庆气氛。春节的另一名称叫过年。在过去的传说中，年是一种为人们带来坏运气的想象中的动物。年一来。树木凋蔽，百草不生；年一过，万物生长，鲜花遍地。年如何才能过去呢？需用鞭炮轰 ，于是有了燃鞭炮的习俗，这其实也是烘托热闹场面的又一种方式。春节是个欢乐祥和的节日，也是亲人团聚的日子，离家在外的孩子在过春节时都要回家欢聚。过年的前一夜，就是旧年的腊月三十夜，也叫除夕，又叫团圆夜，在这新旧交替的时候，守岁是最重要的年俗活动之一，除夕晚上，全家老小都一起熬年守岁，欢聚酣饮，共享天伦之乐，北方地区在除夕有吃饺子的习俗，饺子的作法是先和面，和字就是合；饺子的饺和交谐音，合和交有相聚之意，又取更岁交子之意。在南方有过年吃年糕的习惯，甜甜的粘粘的年糕，象征新一年生活甜蜜蜜，步步高。 待第一声鸡啼响起，或是新年的钟声敲过，街上鞭炮齐鸣，响声此起彼伏，家家喜气洋洋，新的一年开始了，男女老少都穿着节日盛装，先给家族中的长者拜年祝寿，节中还有给儿童压岁钱，吃团年饭，初二、三就开始走亲戚看朋友，相互拜年，道贺祝福，说些恭贺新喜、恭喜发财、恭喜、过年好等话，祭祖等活动。节日的热烈气氛不仅洋溢在各家各户，也充满各地的大街小巷，一些地方的街市上还有舞狮子，耍龙灯，演社火，游花市，逛庙会等习俗。这期间花灯满城，游人满街，热闹非凡，盛况空前，直要闹到正月十五元宵节过后，春节才算真正结束了。春节是汉族最重要的节日，但是满、蒙古，瑶、壮、白、高山、赫哲、哈尼、达斡尔、侗、黎等十几个少数民族也有过春节的习俗，只是过节的形式更有自己的民族特色，更蕴味无穷。Spring FestivalThe Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Chinese people and is when all family members get together, just like Christmas in the West. All people living away from home go back, becoming the busiest time for transportation systems of about half a month from the Spring Festival. Airports, railway stations and long-distance bus stations are crowded with home returnees.The Spring Festival falls on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month, often one month later than the Gregorian calendar. It originated in the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC-c. 1100 BC) from the people's sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.Strictly speaking, the Spring Festival starts every year in the early days of the 12th lunar month and will last till the mid 1st lunar month of the next year. Of them, the most important days are Spring Festival Eve and the first three days. The Chinese government now stipulates people have seven days off for the Chinese Lunar New Year.Many customs accompany the Spring Festival. Some are still followed today, but others have weakened.On the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, many families make laba porridge, a delicious kind of porridge made with glutinous rice, millet, seeds of Job's tears, jujube berries, lotus seeds, beans, longan and gingko.The 23rd day of the 12th lunar month is called Preliminary Eve. At this time, people offer sacrifice to the kitchen god. Now however, most families make delicious food to enjoy themselves.After the Preliminary Eve, people begin preparing for the coming New Year. This is called "Seeing the New Year in".Store owners are busy then as everybody goes out to purchase necessities for the New Year. Materials not only include edible oil, rice, flour, chicken, duck, fish and meat, but also fruit, candies and kinds of nuts. What's more, various decorations, new clothes and shoes for the children as well as gifts for the elderly, friends and relatives, are all on the list of purchasing.Before the New Year comes, the people completely clean the indoors and outdoors of their homes as well as their clothes, bedclothes and all their utensils.Then people begin decorating their clean rooms featuring an atmosphere of rejoicing and festivity. All the door panels will be pasted with Spring Festival couplets, highlighting Chinese calligraphy with black characters on red paper. The content varies from house owners' wishes for a bright future to good luck for the New Year. Also, pictures of the god of doors and wealth will be posted on front doors to ward off evil spirits and welcome peace and abundance.The Chinese character "fu" (meaning blessing or happiness) is a must. The character put on paper can be pasted normally or upside down, for in Chinese the "reversed fu" is homophonic with "fu comes", both being pronounced as "fudaole." What's more, two big red lanterns can be raised on both sides of the front door. Red paper-cuttings can be seen on window glass and brightly colored New Year paintings with auspicious meanings may be put on the wall.People attach great importance to Spring Festival Eve. At that time, all family members eat dinner together. The meal is more luxurious than usual. Dishes such as chicken, fish and bean curd cannot be excluded, for in Chinese, their pronunciations, respectively "ji", "yu" and "doufu," mean auspiciousness, abundance and richness. After the dinner, the whole family will sit together, chatting and watching TV. In recent years, the Spring Festival party broadcast on China Central Television Station (CCTV) is essential entertainment for the Chinese both at home and abroad. According to custom, each family will stay up to see the New Year in.Waking up on New Year, everybody dresses up. First they extend greetings to their parents. Then each child will get money as a New Year gift, wrapped up in red paper. People in northern China will eat jiaozi, or dumplings, for breakfast, as they think "jiaozi" in sound means "bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new". Also, the shape of the dumpling is like gold ingot from ancient China. So people eat them and wish for money and treasure.Southern Chinese eat niangao (New Year cake made of glutinous rice flour) on this occasion, because as a homophone, niangao means "higher and higher, one year after another." The first five days after the Spring Festival are a good time for relatives, friends, and classmates as well as colleagues to exchange greetings, gifts and chat leisurely.Burning fireworks was once the most typical custom on the Spring Festival. People thought the spluttering sound could help drive away evil spirits. However, such an activity was completely or partially forbidden in big cities once the government took security, noise and pollution factors into consideration. As a replacement, some buy tapes with firecracker sounds to listen to, some break little balloons to get the sound too, while others buy firecracker handicrafts to hang in the living room.The lively atmosphere not only fills every household, but permeates to streets and lanes. A series of activities such as lion dancing, dragon lantern dancing, lantern festivals and temple fairs will be held for days. The Spring Festival then comes to an end when the Lantern Festival is finished.China has 56 ethnic groups. Minorities celebrate their Spring Festival almost the same day as the Han people, and they have different customs.每年农历的正月十五日，春节刚过，迎来的就是中国的传统节日--元宵节。元宵主要的活动就是看灯。东汉明帝时期，明帝提倡佛教，听说佛教有正月十五日僧人观佛舍利，点灯敬佛的做法，就命令这一天夜晚在皇宫和寺庙里点灯敬佛，令士族庶民都挂灯。以后这种佛教礼仪节日逐渐形成民间盛大的节日。该节经历了由宫廷到民间，由中原到全国的发展过程。直到今天，元宵点灯的习俗仍然在中国的各地流传的，各式各样美丽的花灯在这一天都会点亮，孩子们提着自制的灯笼走街串巷，非常高兴。猜灯谜也是元宵节的一项重要活动，花灯的主人会将谜面写在灯笼上，挂在门口，如果有人可以猜中，就能得到小小的礼物。这项活动最早起源于宋朝，因为谜语能启迪智慧又饶有兴趣，所以流传过程中深受社会各阶层的欢迎。民间过元宵节吃元宵的习俗。元宵由糯米制成，或实心，或带馅。馅有豆沙、白糖、山楂、各类果料等，食用时煮、煎、蒸、炸皆可。起初，人们把这种食物叫“浮圆子”，后来又叫“汤团”或“汤圆”，这些名称“团圆”字音相近，取团圆之意，象征全家人团团圆圆，和睦幸福，人们也以此怀念离别的亲人,寄托了对未来生活的美好愿望。随着时间的推移，元宵节的活动越来越多，白天有耍龙灯、耍狮子、踩高跷、划旱船扭秧歌、打太平鼓等传统民俗表演。到了夜晚，除了五颜六色的美花灯之外，还有艳丽多姿的烟火。大多数家庭会在春节时留下一些烟花等到元宵节这天燃放，而一些地方政府也会举办烟花大会，当新年的第一个月圆之夜在盛大的烟火表演中来临时，人们都陶醉在这令人难忘了烟花与皎洁的明月中。Lantern FestivalThe Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. As early as the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 25), it had become a festival with great significance.This day's important activity is watching lanterns. Throughout the Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 220), Buddhism flourished in China. One emperor heard that Buddhist monks would watch sarira, or remains from the cremation of Buddha's body, and light lanterns to worship Buddha on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, so he ordered to light lanterns in the imperial palace and temples to show respect to Buddha on this day. Later, the Buddhist rite developed into a grand festival among common people and its influence expanded from the Central Plains to the whole of China.Till today, the lantern festival is still held each year around the country. Lanterns of various shapes and sizes are hung in the streets, attracting countless visitors. Children will hold self-made or bought lanterns to stroll with on the streets, extremely excited."Guessing lantern riddles"is an essential part of the Festival. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answer. If they are right, they will get a little gift. The activity emerged during people's enjoyment of lanterns in the Song Dynasty (960-1279). As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular among all social strata.People will eat yuanxiao, or rice dumplings, on this day, so it is also called the "Yuanxiao Festival."Yuanxiao also has another name, tangyuan. It is small dumpling balls made of glutinous rice flour with rose petals, sesame, bean paste, jujube paste, walnut meat, dried fruit, sugar and edible oil as filling. Tangyuan can be boiled, fried or steamed. It tastes sweet and delicious. What's more, tangyuan in Chinese has a similar pronunciation with "tuanyuan”, meaning reunion. So people eat them to denote union, harmony and happiness for the family.In the daytime of the Festival, performances such as a dragon lantern dance, a lion dance, a land boat dance, a yangge dance, walking on stilts and beating drums while dancing will be staged. On the night, except for magnificent lanterns, fireworks form a beautiful scene. Most families spare some fireworks from the Spring Festival and let them off in the Lantern Festival. Some local governments will even organize a fireworks party. On the night when the first full moon enters the New Year, people become really intoxicated by the imposing fireworks and bright moon in the sky.Mid-autumn FestivalThe Mid-Autumn Festival (Chinese Moon Festival) is an important traditional festivity second only to the Spring Festival.Celebrated on the 15th day of the eighth month in Chinese lunar calendar, the Moon Festival usually comes sometime between the second week of September and the second week of October.Mid-Autumn day is a time when people celebrate the harvest, enjoy the getting-together with families and friends and appreciate good food and the most beautiful moon.Chinese ancestors took the seventh, eighth and ninth lunar months as autumn and 15th day of the eighth lunar month as the Moon Day which was considered the best day of the year to enjoy the beautiful, round and bright moon.A harvest festival, Moon Day is a time for relaxation and celebration and most importantly, reunion of families. In the past, food offerings were placed on an altar set up in the courtyard. Special food for the festival included moon cakes and cooked taro, edible snails from the taro patches or rice paddies cooked with sweet basil, and water caltrope, a type of water chestnut resembling black buffalo horns. Some people insisted that cooked taro be included because at the time of creation, taro was the first food discovered at night in the moonlight.TraditionThe Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional festivity for both the Han and minority nationalities. The custom of worshipping the moon can be traced back as far as the ancient Xia and Shang Dynasties (2000 B.C.-1066 B.C.). In the Zhou Dynasty (1066 B.C.-221 B.C.), people held ceremonies to greet winter and worshiped the moon whenever the Mid-Autumn Festival set in. It became prevalent in the Tang Dynasty (618-907 A.D.) that people enjoyed and worshiped the full moon. In the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279 A.D.), however, people sent round moon cakes to their relatives as gifts in expression of their best wishes of family reunion. At night they looked up at the full silver moon or went sightseeing to celebrate the festival. Since the Ming (1368-1644 A.D. ) and Qing Dynasties (1644-1911A.D.), the custom of Mid-Autumn Festival celebration became unprecedented popular. Together with the celebration there appeared some special customs in different parts of the country, such as burning incense, planting Mid-Autumn trees, lighting Lanterns on towers and fire dragon dances. What is worth mentioning is that the Yuetan Park in the western district of Beijing, was originally the Temple of Moon, and every year, the emperor would go there to offer a sacrifice to the moon.In mid-autumn farmers had just finished gathering their crops and bringing in fruits from the orchards. They were overwhelmed with joy when they have a harvest and at the same time they felt quite relaxed after a year of hard work. So the 15th Day of the eighth lunar month has gradually evolved as a widely celebrated festival for ordinary people. When the night falls, the land is bathed in silver moonlight. Families set up tables in their courtyards or sit together on their balconies chatting and sharing offerings to the moon. Together they enjoy the spell of night.Moon CakeMoon cake also has a story. During the Yuan dynasty (A.D.1280-1368) China was ruled by the Mongolian people. Leaders from the preceding Sung dynasty (A.D.960-1280) were unhappy at submitting to foreign rule, and set how to coordinate the rebellion without it being discovered. The leaders of the rebellion, knowing that the Moon Festival was drawing near, ordered the making of special cakes. Contained in each moon cake was a message with the outline of the attack. On the night of the Moon Festival, the rebels successfully attacked and overthrew the government. What followed was the establishment of the Ming dynasty (A.D. 1368-1644). Today, moon cakes are eaten to commemorate this legend.The round moon cakes, traditionally about three inches in diameter and one and a half inches in thickness, resembled Western fruitcakes in taste and consistency. These cakes were made with melon seeds, lotus seeds, almonds, minced meats, bean paste, orange peels and lard. A golden yolk from a salted duck egg was placed at the center of each cake, and the golden brown crust was decorated with symbols of the festival. 13 moon cakes were piled in a pyramid to symbolize the thirteen moons of a "complete year", that is, twelve moons plus one intercalary moon.Moon ViewA moon view is a must in the Mid-Autumn Festival when the moon is especially round and bright. If the weather remains fine, people will be able to see a full moon on Mid-autumn day astronomers say. A full moon usually falls on the 16th day of a lunar month, instead of the 15th day. The moon will appear at its fullest when it is most closely aligned with the earth and the sun. It takes about 29.5 days for the three celestial bodies to be approximately aligned. The next time for such a fullest moon will be September 19, 2013.：The oldest and most important festival in China is the Spring Festival, more commonly known in the West as Chinese New Year. Like all Chinese festivals, the date of the new year is determined by the lunar/solar calendar rather than the Western (Gregorian) calendar, so the date of the holiday varies from late January to mid February.The Spring festival celebrates the earth coming back to life, and the start of ploughing and sowing. In the past, feudal rulers of dynasties placed great importance on this occasion, and ceremonies to usher in the season were performed.Preparations for the New Year festival start during the last few days of the last moon. Houses are thoroughly cleaned, debts repaid, hair cut and new clothes bought. Doors are decorated with vertical scrolls of characters on red paper whose texts seek good luck and praise nature, this practice stemming from the hanging of peach-wood charms to keep away ghosts and evil spirits. In many homes incense is burned, and also in the temples as a mark of respect to ancestors.On New Year’s Eve houses are brightly lit and a large family dinner is served. In the south of China sticky-sweet glutinous rice pudding called nian gao is served, while in the north the steamed dumpling jiaozi is popular. Most celebrating the festival stay up till midnight, when fireworks are lit, to drive away evil spirits. New Years day is often spent visiting neighbours, family and friends.The public holiday for New Year lasts 3 days in China, but the festival traditionally lasts till the 15th day of the lunar month and ends with the ‘Lantern Festival’. Here, houses are decorated with colourful lanterns, and yuanxioa, a sweet or savoury fried or boiled dumpling made of glutinous rice flour is eaten.

We call the Chinese New Year the Spring Festival. It is the first day of the lunar calendar. Before New Year’s Day, people are busy shopping and cleaning their houses. On New Year’s Eve, every family has a delicious feast. All the family stays up late to welcome the Festival and people burn firecrackers to greet it. On the first day of the Spring Festival, people put on their new clothes and visit their relatives and friends. When meeting, they say “Good luck” and other greetings to each other. And children are very happy because they can get the lucky money from their parents and relatives. On the Festival, there are lion dances and some other activities, which last at least three days. People usually have a very good time during the festival.