（Learn to spread China and Chinese cuIture in EngIish）
Customs and Celebrations of the Spring Festival
1. Preparation for the Spring Festival
A few days before the Spring Festival, people began to make preparations.Houses are thoroughly cleaned, and so are people. The Chinese believe the thorough cleaning can sweep away the bad luck accumulated over the past year and thus make room for the good luck. A lot of people will go to the hair stylists to have their hair done before the festival. Many will buy new clothes for themselves and especially for the children. Debts will be paid back. Spring Festival couplets written on red papers will be put on both sides of the door and an antithetical couplet will be put over the door. Also important is to post the " Fu" upside down on the front door of a house or an apartment. The upside down " Fu" carries the meaning that good luck is coming. Since red is considered to be a lucky color, most families also decorate their houses or apartments in red. The Spring Festival couplets and the "Fu", for example , are written on red paper and some families ( especially those in northern China) decorate their windows by posting paper-cuts ( chuanghua ) made of red paper.
2. Family reunion
Spring Festival is the biggest occasion of a year for family members to have a big family reunion. It is a tradition for people, including those who are far away from home, to go back to their parents ' house or apartment to celebrate the festival with all the family members and relatives.
3. The Chinese New Year 's Eve Family Dinner
On the Eve of the Spring Festival, all the family members usually gather together at their parents' house to have a big Chinese New Year's Eve Family Dinner (年夜饭). Various dishes will be served. Although people from different parts of China may enjoy different dishes, foods that contain symbolic meanings always appear on the dinner table. For example, Jiaozi or dumpling, the most important dish in northern China, is shaped like the ancient silver ingot and thus also symbolizes prosperity. Many families in the north will eat noodles as their first Spring Festival Meal because they symbolize longevity. In the southern provinces of China, people will include Tangyuan and Niangao in their Spring Festival menu because the former symbolizes family reunion and the latter improvement in life year after year. fish is an especially important dish in the New Year 's Eve Family Dinner because it is a symbol of abundance. People like the idea "nian nian you yu ,which literally means having fish every year, but it also alludes to the idea of having more things than people can use.
4.Setting off firecrackers
Firecrackers have been used since ancient times to celebrate the Spring Festival.By doing so, people wish to have a peaceful and happy life in the coming year. It is said the custom of celebrating the Spring Festival with firecrackers is related to the legend of “Nian”. Now children especially enjoy setting off firecrackers during the festival. Most families will set off long strings of firecrackers before the festival dinner begins. Besides , almost all the families set off firecrackers outside their home from ten to fifteen minutes before twelve o' clock to a little over twelve o' clock at midnight. Meanwhile fireworks also light up the whole sky. The excitement of the festival has reached its climax at this moment. Now in some big cities, the use of firecrackers and fireworks are restricted but there are usually fixed places in the neighborhood that allow people to set off firecrackers and fireworks. Villages and smaller cities and towns are not restricted and people can use firecrackers and fireworks freely.
5. The SpringFestival Gala
Usually , members of a family gather together after the big dinner and watch the Spring Festival Gala which starts at 8 p. m.and lasts about 5 hours every year.Watching the Spring Festival Gala has now become an important activity for the Chinese to celebrate the festival.
6. Staying up late on the New Year's Eve (守岁)
Since it is a tradition for people to stay up as late as possible on the New Year's Eve, the Chinese usually spend the night watching the Spring Festive gala, talking with each other or playing Majiang, a Chinese game. This is an important moment for family members to exchange their ideas and share their experiences in the past year.
7. Chinese Bainian
Paying a New Year's Visit is a very important Spring Festival tradition for Chinese. In the first morning of the Spring Festival, people put on new clothes and go out to pay visits to their relatives and friends. This is called Bainian ( 拜年), the purpose of which is to give each other the Spring Festival Greetings and express their best wishes to each other. People will first visit their senior family members and then other relatives and friends. Chinese Bainian usually goes on for several days.
8. Chinese Hongbao
Another important Spring Festival tradition is about giving and receiving Hongbao. Children and young people who are not working and married yet are especially looking forward to this moment. This is because when they greet their parents, grandparents , other older relatives, and even some friends of the family during the Spring Festival, they will usually get red envelopes ( or red packets), in which money is put to symbolize luck and wealth. Money that is used in Hongbao must be in new bills and certain numbers that are considered to bring bad luck ( such as 4 and 7 ) are avoided. Nowadays, some adults also give Hongbao to their parents.
春节习俗及庆祝活动
1、春节准备
春节前几天，人们开始做准备。房子要进行大扫除，人洗得干干净净。中国人认为，大扫除可以扫除过去一年积累的厄运，从而为好运腾出空间。很多人会在节日前去发型师那里做头发。许多人会给自己添置新衣，尤其是给孩子们。债务需得到清算。门的两侧将贴上写在红纸上的春联或对联。同样重要的是把“福”倒过来贴在房子或公寓的前门上。倒置的“福”表示好运即将到来。由于红色被认为是幸运的颜色，大多数家庭也用红色装饰他们的房子或公寓。例如，春联和“福”都写在红纸上，一些家庭（尤其是中国北方的家庭）用红纸做的剪纸装饰窗户。
2、家庭团聚
春节是一年中家人团聚的最大日子。按照传统，离家在外的人会回到父母的房子或公寓，与所有的家庭成员和亲戚共度佳节。
3、年夜饭
除夕夜，所有的家庭成员通常聚集在他们父母的家里，吃一顿丰盛的年夜饭。美味佳肴应有尽有。虽然不同地区的国人可能喜欢不同的菜肴，但包含象征意义的食物总是出现在餐桌上。例如，饺子是中国北方最重要的菜，因为形状像古代银锭，所以象征着繁荣。许多北方家庭将面条作为他们的第一顿春节大餐，因为面条象征长寿。在中国南方省份，人们将把汤圆和年糕列入春节菜单，因为前者象征着家庭团聚，后者象征着生活像芝麻开花节节高。在除夕家庭晚餐中，鱼是一道特别重要的菜，因为它是丰盛的象征。人们喜欢“年年有鱼”这个概念，其字面意思是每年都有鱼，但它同时暗指人们的财物有盈余，多到用不完。
4、燃放鞭炮
鞭炮自古以来就被用来庆祝春节。通过燃放鞭炮，人们希望在新的一年里有一个幸福安康的生活。据说用鞭炮庆祝春节的习俗与“年”的传说有关。现在孩子们特别喜欢在节日里放鞭炮。在节日晚餐开始之前，大多数家庭都会燃放长长的鞭炮。此外，几乎所有的家庭在12点前10到15分钟到午夜12点多一点的时候在家门口燃放鞭炮。与此同时，烟花也照亮了整个夜空。这一刻，节日的热闹达到了高潮。现在在一些大城市，鞭炮和烟花的使用受到限制，但附近通常有固定的地方允许人们燃放鞭炮和烟花。村庄和小城镇不受限制，人们可以自由燃放烟花爆竹。
5、春节联欢晚会
通常，一家人在丰盛的晚餐后聚在一起观看春节联欢晚会，每年的晚会从晚上8点开始，持续大约5个小时。看春晚已经成为中国人庆祝春节的一项重要活动。
6、守岁
由于除夕夜尽可能熬夜是人们的传统，中国人通常会花一个晚上观看春节联欢晚会，互相交谈或玩麻将（一种中国游戏）。这是家庭成员交流和分享过去一年经验的重要时刻。
7、拜年
拜年对中国人来说是一个非常重要的春节传统。在春节的第一个早上，人们穿上新衣服，出去拜访亲戚朋友。这就叫拜年，其目的是相互致以春节的问候，并向对方表达最美好的祝愿。人们将首先拜访他们的资深家庭成员，然后拜访其他亲戚和朋友。中国的拜年通常持续几天。
8、红包
另一个重要的春节传统是送红包和收红包。尚未工作和结婚的儿童和年轻人特别期待这一时刻。这是因为当他们在春节问候父母、祖父母、其他年长的亲戚，甚至家人的一些朋友时，他们通常会收到红包，里面的钱是用来象征好运和财富的。红包装的钱必须是新钞票，并且避免使用某些被认为会带来厄运的数字（例如4和7）。现在，一些成年人也给他们的父母发红包。
声明：文中英语取材于重庆大学出版社出版、任勤主编的《中美文化面面观》的相关章节。内容略有删减。如有侵权，联系删除。
,
