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Chinese Spring Festival
Chinese Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year, is the the
most important holiday in Chinese communities around the world. The
Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year because it is
based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. It usually occurs
in late January or early February.
To most Chinese,
the spring festival begins on the eve of the lunar New Year's Day and
ends on the fifth day of the first month of the lunar calendar. The
15th of the month, which normally is called the Lantern Festival,
means the official ending of the Spring Festival.
Before the New
Year's eve, every family member will try to go back home from every
corner of the country to join the entire family to celebrate.
Preparations for the New Year begin the last days sometimes weeks
before the New Year's day, when houses are thoroughly cleaned, food
prepared, fireworks and new clothes purchased.
On New Year's
Eve, all the members of families come together to feast. On the food
menu, Jiaozi ( 饺子 ), a steamed dumpling, is popular in the north, while
Nian Gao ( 年糕 ), a sticky sweet rice pudding, is favored by
southerners.
At
midnight following a big and nice family banquet on the New Year's Eve,
the young members of the family would bow and pay their respects to the
parents and elders. In return, the elders will give "red money
envelopes" with plenty of money within for good fortune and wishing
prosperity.
At New Year's eve,
especially at midnight, people used to let off fire crackers, which
serve to drive away the evil spirits and to greet the arrival of the
new year.
Starting from the
New Year's Day for the next two or three days, people begin going out
to visit friends, relatives or business associates
, taking with them gifts such as cakes, wines, gift baskets, etc.
Common terms for greeting are: Guonian Hao (过年好, Happy New Year), and
Bainian ( 拜年 congratulate the New Year), or Gong Xi Fa Cai or Gung Hey
Fat Choy
( 恭喜发财, Wishing You Prosperity and Wealth
).
People also
decorate their doors and windows with paper-cuts and poems called
couplets which are supposed to bring luck in the form of "happiness",
"wealth", and "longevity". Paintings of the same theme are put up in
the house on top of the newly mounted wall paper.
The
New Year celebration lasts for fifteen days with various entertainments
to be enjoyed, including playing games of mahjong and cards at home or
club, watching movies and plays, or shopping and other fun activities.
Other typical activities, including animal shows, magic shows, puppet
shows, storytelling and lion and dragon dances, dragon lantern dancing,
lantern festivals and temple fairs, will be held for days. The Spring
Festival comes to an end when the Lantern Festival is finished.
Other Chinese Traditional
Festivals
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