Spring Festival is the most important holiday for Chinese people. Excitement and happiness are palpable this time of the year，and they reach the peak on lunar new year‘s eve.
春节对于中国人来说是最重要的节日。在每年的春节都让人兴高采烈，尤其是大年三十那晚，更是达到了高潮。

Though the 15-day period，which starts with the first day of the lunar new year and ends on the 15th day （known as Lantern Festival），is relatively long，it is the busiest time of the year for Chinese people. The arrangements they have to make for family reunions，buying necessities and preparing food keeps them busy throughout the holiday. Many of them travel back home and meet friends over dinner and drinks. The celebrations include decorating the house and setting off fireworks.
春节历时15天，也就从大年初一开始，到元月十五元宵节结束。这段比较长的时间是中国人最忙的时候。他们为家庭聚会作安排，采购年货，准备丰盛的食物，以至于整个春节假期都忙忙碌碌的。许多人在春季期间都要回老家过年，跟朋友碰碰头，聚个餐。庆祝春节也包括大扫除和放烟火。

But we are talking about a tradition that seems to be fading.
但是我们现在要谈的是越来越淡的年味。

Spring Festival，as it is celebrated today，has undergone many changes，thanks to the country‘s economic development and globalization.
现在的春节已经因为我国经济的发展和全球化的影响而改变了很多。

Yet no Spring Festival is complete without food. People could not get good food whenever they desired in earlier times，something that does not apply to society today. More often than not，people faced the risk of famine. The best time for people to celebrate was when food was available in plenty，and that was possible in spring，or the beginning of the lunar new year. That was the main reason why Spring Festival acquired such great importance among Chinese people.
但是没有哪个春节是完全离得开“吃”的。从前，不论人们提前多久想要买年货，总是不能如愿，而现在早已今非昔比。过去常常还要闹饥荒。人们最好的庆祝时间就是他们能得到食物丰盛的时候，也就是春天或是元月初的那段时间。那也是为什么春节对于中国人如此重要的主要原因。

But three decades of economic growth has ensured that people in China，except for those who are still poor，can enjoy a good meal whenever they want. Such has been the change in people‘s fortune that some have to be treated for obesity and other health problems associated with excessive eating.
但是三十年来的经济发展已经让中国人，除了那些仍然穷苦的人以外，随时都能享受美食。这得益于人民财富的增长，但是后者也导致一些人吃得太多而受到肥胖威胁和健康问题。

In the past, celebrations were limited to events like song-and-dance duets in North China, dragon/lion dances in South China and fireworks, which required the joint efforts of the entire community. But economic development and urbanization seems to have weakened the social links among people. Many, especially those living in cities, are not interested in celebrating the festival with people they hardly know.
在过去，庆祝春节还只停留在北方的二人转和南方的舞龙舞狮等形式。那些庆祝活动往往需要许多人合力才能办得起来。但是经济的发展和国际化程度的提升似乎已经将这种社会联系弱化了。许多人，特别是城市居民，不太愿意与不相识的人一起共度春节。

Many customs associated with Spring Festival have changed, too. In the past, people used to visit relatives and friends with gifts and lots of good wishes. Today, many people, especially the youth, use their cell phones or the Internet to send their good wishes and even "gifts" to their relatives and friends. Some may say this a sign that people have become less caring about their near and dear ones, but we should see this development as a time- and energy-saving exercise granted by the information age.
与春节相关的许多习俗也被改变了。在过去，人们常常会带着礼物走亲访友，互道祝福。今天许多人，特别是年轻人，用手机或是网络向亲朋好友发去“礼物”和祝福。有些人或许会说，这说明人们已经没有那么关心至爱亲朋了，但是我们应该把这种变化看作信息化时代省钱省力的好办法。

In recent times，many people have started praying for a career promotion or more money instead of invoking God or the Buddha for a healthy and long life and the welfare of their family. But the number of such people is decreasing now，which shows that people are becoming more reasonable.
最近几年，许多人开始祈祷事业高升，财源滚滚，而不是求神拜佛，他们身体健康，长命百岁，家庭美满。但是这样的人数现在正在减少，说明人们开始变得更加理性。

 

春节习俗英文简介Customs of the Spring Festival

The Spring Festival is a traditional Chinese festival and also the most important one of the whole year. Through the evolvement of thousands of years, a series of customs are spreading far and wide.

扫尘Sweeping the Dust

“Dust”is homophonic with "chen”（尘）in Chinese，which means old and past. In this way，"sweeping the dust”before the Spring Festival means a thorough cleaning of houses to sweep away bad luck in the past year. This custom shows a good wish of putting away old things to welcome a new life. In a word，just before the Spring Festival comes，every household will give a thorough cleaning to bid farewell to the old year and usher in the new.

贴春联Pasting Spring Couplets

“The Spring Couplet”, also called "couplet”and "a pair of antithetical phrases”, is a special form of literature in China. The Spring Couplet is composed of two antithetical sentences on both sides of the door and a horizontal scroll bearing an inscription, usually an auspicious phrase，above the gate. The sentence pasting on the right side of the door is called the first line of the couplet and the one on the left the second line. On the eve of the Spring Festival, every household will paste on doors a spring couplet written on red paper to give a happy and prosperous atmosphere of the Festival. In the past, the Chinese usually wrote their own spring couplet with a brush or asked others to do for them, while nowadays, it is common for people to buy the printed spring couplet in the market.

贴窗花和“福”字Pasting Paper-cuts and "Up-sided Fu”

Paper-cuts, usually with auspicious patterns, give a happy and prosperous atmosphere of the Festival and express the good wishes of Chinese people looking forward to a good life. In addition to pasting paper-cuts on windows, it is common for Chinese to paste the character "fu（福）”, big and small, on walls, doors and doorposts around the houses. "Fu（福）”shows people’s yearning toward a good life. Some people even invert the character "fu（福）”to signify that blessing has arrived because "inverted”is a homonym for "arrive”in Chinese. Now many kinds of paper-cuts and "fu（福）”can be seen in the market before the Festival.

贴年画Pasting New Year Prints

The custom of pasting New Year Prints originated from the tradition of placing Door Gods on the external doors of houses. With the creation of board carvings，New Year paintings cover a wide range of subjects. The most famous ones are Door Gods，Surplus Year after Year，Three Gods of Blessing，Salary and Longevity，An Abundant Harvest of Crops， Thriving Domestic Animals and Celebrating Spring. Four producing areas of New Year Print are Tɑohuɑwu of Suzhou，Yɑngliuqing of Tianjin，Wuqiɑng of Hebei and Weifang of Shangdong. Now the tradition of pasting New Year paintings is still kept in rural China，while it is seldom followed in cities.

吃饺子Having Jiaozi

On New Year’s Eve，the whole family will sit together to make jiaozi and celebrate the Spring Festival. The shape of jiaozi is like gold ingot from ancient China. So people eat them and wish for money and treasure. The tradition of having jiaozi is very important during the Spring Festival. You cannot have a complete Spring Festival without having jiaozi. （See page 82 for more information about "jiaozi”）

看春节联欢晚会The CCTV New Year‘s Gala

The New Year’s Gala is a variety show held by China Central Television （CCTV）since 1983. For every year since then at the turn of the Lunar New Year，the program begins at 8:00PM and lasts five or six hours. It brings laughter to billions of people，creates many popular words and produces lots of TV phenomena meriting attention. For over twenty years，its value has gone far beyond a variety show. It is essential entertainment for the Chinese both at home and abroad. Many Chinese would like to watch the gala while having the dinner on New Year’s Eve.

放鞭炮Setting off Firecrackers

The firecracker is a unique product in China. In ancient China，the sound of burning bamboo tubes was used to scare away wild animals and evil spirits. With the invention of the gunpowder，"firecracker”is also called "鞭炮biānpào” （“炮”in Chinese means gun）and used to foster a joyful atmosphere. The first thing every Chinese household does is to set off firecrackers and fireworks，which are meant to bid farewell to the old year and usher in the new. In the past few years，such an activity was completely or partially forbidden in big cities including Beijing due to fire and personal casualty caused by burning firecrackers. However，some Chinese thought that a Spring Festival without firecrackers was not lively enough and they burned firecrackers by stealth. So in recent years，the ban was canceled again. This shows that burning firecrackers is a very important activity during the Spring Festival.

守岁Staying Up Late on New Year‘s Eve

The tradition of staying up late to see New Year in originated from an interesting folk tale. In ancient China there lived a monster named Year，who was very ferocious. Year always went out from its burrow on New Year’s Eve to devour people. Therefore，on every New Year’s Eve，every household would have supper together. After dinner，no one dared go to sleep and all the family members would sit together，chatting and emboldening each other. Gradually the habit of staying up late on New Year’s Eve is formed. Thus in China，"celebrating the Spring Festival”is also called "passing over the year （guo nian）”。However，now there are less and less people in cities who will stay up late to see New Year in.

拜年和压岁钱New Year’s Visit and Gift Money

On the first day of the Chinese lunar year，everybody puts on their best clothes and pays ceremonial calls on their relatives and friends，wishing them all the luck in the coming year. Juniors will greet seniors，wishing them health and longevity，while seniors will give juniors some gift money as a wish for their safety in the coming year. When friends meet，they will wish each other happiness and prosperity with a big smile. With the development of the new technology，there is a change on the way of giving New Years greetings. In recent year，it is common to send New Years greetings by such modern means of communication as telephones，emails and text messages.

逛庙会Temple Fair

Templefair, usually held outside temples, is a kind of folk custom in China. During the Spring Festival, temple fair is one of the most important activities, in which there are such performances as acrobatics and Wushu, numerous kinds of local snacks and many kinds of things for everyday life. In recent years, the temple fair has become a place for people to appreciate the traditional art and experience the traditional life.