The Spring Festival is the most important festival in
China.People usually decorate the doors and windows with red papercuts.becouse red means good luck.People usually clean house too.becouse they want to sweep away bad luck.Children can get some new clothes or presents from their parents and grandparents.
On New Year\'s Eve,family always have a big
dinner.Everybody are watch TV and talk.In the
midnight,there usually fairworks.
On New Year\'s Day,people usually put on their new clothes and visit their femily and friends.They usually say:\"Happy New Year\'s Day.\"
The Spring Festival finishes at the Lantern Festival after two weeks.People usually eat a kind of rice dumpling called yuanxiao.It can take people good luck all the year round.The Origin of Chinese New Year
中国春节的来历
The Chinese New Year is now popularly known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the Begining of Spring (the first of the twenty-four terms in coodination with the
changes of Nature).Its origin is too old to be traced.Several explanations are hanging around.All agree, however, that
the word Nian, which in modern Chinese solely means \"year\", was originally the name of a monster beast that started to prey on people the night before the beginning of a new year.
One legend goes that the beast Nian had a very big mouth that would swallow a great many people with one bite.
People were very scared.One day, an old man came to their rescue, offering to subdue Nian.To Nian he said, \"I hear say that you are very capable, but can you swallow the other beasts of prey on earth instead of people who are by no means of your worthy opponents?\" So, it did swallow many of the beasts of prey on earth that also harraed people and their domestic animals from time to time.
After that, the old man disappeared riding the beast Nian.He turned out to be an immortal god.Now that Nian is gone and other beasts of prey are also scared into forests, people begin to enjoy their peaceful life.Before the old man left, he had told people to put up red paper decorations on their windows and doors at each year\'s end to scare away Nian in case it sneaked back again, because red is the color the beast feared the most.
From then on, the tradition of observing the conquest of
Nian is carried on from generation to generation.The term \"Guo Nian\", which may mean \"Survive the Nian\" becomes today \"Celebrate the (New) Year\" as the word \"guo\" in Chinese having both the meaning of \"pa-over\" and \"observe\".The custom of putting up red paper and firing fire-crackers to scare away Nian should it have a chance to run loose is still around.However, people today have long forgotten why they are doing all this, except that they feel the color and the sound add to the excitement of the celebration.
春节常用英文
过年 Guo-nian; have the Spring Festival
对联 poetic couplet: two succeive rhyming lines in poetry 春联 Spring Festival couplets
剪纸 paper-cuts
年画 New Year paintings
买年货 special purchases for the Spring Festival ; do Spring Festival shopping
敬酒 propose a toast
灯笼 lantern: a portable light
灯会 exhibit of lanterns
守岁 staying-up
拜年 pay New Year\'s call; give New Year\'s greetings; 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
辞旧岁 bid farewell to the old year
扫房 spring cleaning; general house-cleaning
八宝饭 eight treasures rice pudding
糖果盘 candy tray
什锦糖 aorted candiesgrowth and good health
西瓜子 red melon seedprosperity
糖莲子 candied lotus seedfulfilling love relationship 红枣 red dateweet
