Chi

neseSpr
ingFest
ival

Ti
me&Dur
ati
onofSpr
ingFest
ival

Accordingtothetr
aditi
onalChineselunarcal
endar
, Chi
neseSpringFest
ival,
alsoknownas
ChineseNewYear ,begi
nswi t
ht heNewMoonandendsont heFul
lMoon, whichi
sfrom thefir
st
daytot he15thdayofthefir
stmont hi nanewyear.Thelastday(t
he15thdayoft hefi
rstlunar
mont h)oftheNewYeari sknownast heLant
ernFesti
val
.

Or
igi
nofSpr
ingFest
ival

Theor iginoft heSpr i

ngFest ival nowi stoool dt obet raced.I tiswi delybeli
evedt hatthewor d
‘
Ni an'
(i
nChi nesemeans' year'),wasf ir
stt henameofamonst erbeastt hatstartedtopr eyon
humanbei ngatt henightbef oret hebegi nningofanewy ear.Ithadav erybigmout hthatwoul d
swal l
owmanypeopl ewithonebi t
e.Peopl ewer ev eryscar ed.Oneday ,anoldmancamet othei
r
rescue, offeri
ngt osubdue‘ Ni an'
.Hesai dt o‘Nian'that‘ Iheart haty ouar equitecapabl e, butcan
youswal l
owot herbeastsonear thinst eadofpeopl ewhoar ebynomeansofy ourwor thy
opponent s? 'Hence, ‘
Nian'didswal lowmanyoft hebeast sofpr eyonear ththatalsohar assed
peopleandt heirdomest icani mal sf rom t i
met ot i
me.Af terthat,theol dmanwhot urnedoutt o
beani mmor alfair
ydisappear edr idingt hebeast‘ Ni an'.Nowt hat‘Nian'hadgoneandot her
beastsofpr eyar escaredof fintot hef or ests,peoplebegant oenj oytheirli
feinpeaceand
happiness.Bef oretheoldmanl eft,hehadt ol
dpeopl et oputupr edpaperdecor ati
onsont hei
r
windowsanddoor sateachy ear '
sendt oscar eaway‘ Ni an'i
ncasei tsneakedbackagai n,
becauser edi sthecolorthatt hebeastf earedmost .

From thenon, t
hetradi
ti
onofobserv
ingtheconquestof‘Ni
an'
iscarr
iedonf r
om generati
ont o
generation.Theter
m‘ GuoNian'
,whi
chmaymean‘ Surviv
etheNian'
becomest oday'
s‘Cel
ebrate
theNewYear '
,astheword‘Guo'i
nChinesehavi
ngboththemeaningof‘pass-over'
and‘observe'
.
Thecust om ofputti
ngupredpaperandfir
ingf
ir
ecrackerst
oscareaway'Nian'hadbeenwel l
preserved.

Cust
omsofSpr
ingFest
ival

Past
ecouplet
s(Chinese:贴春联) :i
t’
sakindofli
ter
atur
e.Chinesepeopleli
ket
owrit
esomedual
andconci
sewordsonr edpapert
oexpressthei
rnewy ear
’swishes.Onthear
ri
val
ofNewYear,
ever
yfamil
ywillpastecoupl
ets.

Fami
lyr
euniondi
nner(
Chinese:团圆饭) :peopl
etravel
l
ingorresi
dingi
napl
acef
arawayf
rom
homewil
lbacktothei
rhomet ogett
ogetherwi
ththei
rfamil
i
es.
StayuplateonNewYear ’
sEve(Chi
nese:守岁) :it
’sakindofwayforChinesepeopletowel
come
NewYear ’sar
ri
val
.St
ayinguplateonNewYear ’sEveisendowedwit
hauspi ci
ousmeaningby
people.Theol
ddoitforcher
ishi
ngtheirpastt
ime,theyoungdoitf
ortheirpar
ents’l
ongev
ity
.

Handoutredpackets(
Chinese:发红包) :el
der
swil
lputsomemoneyi nt
oredpackets,
andthen
handouttotheyoungergenerat
ionduri
ngspri
ngf
esti
val.I
nrecenty
ears,
elect
ri
credpacket
s
arepopul
aramongy oungergenerat
ion.

Setofffi
recrackers:
Chinesepeopl
ethi
nkt
heloudsoundofthefi
recracker
scandri
veaway
devi
ls,andthef i
reofthefi
recr
acker
scanmakethei
rli
fet
hri
vingi
nt hecomingyear
.

Afterdi
nner,peoplesi
ttogetherbeforetheTVtowatchtheNewYear'
sprogram andchatwi
th
eachot her
.Abouttenmi nut
esbef oretheri
ngi
ngoftheNewYear'
sbell
,peoplel
etoutthe
fi
reworkstowel comebackt heKit
chenGodf r
om t
heHeaven,whoi
sinchargeoft hef
ort
une
andmi sfor
tuneofthehouseholdhedwel l
s.

Anewbegi
nni
ngonNewYear
’sDay

Someoft hecustomsbasedonsuper st
it
ionsarequi
tei
nteresting.Forexample,onNewYear 's
Day,peopl
ewillnotsweepthef l
oor,dowashingordumpt heirgarbageoutoft hehouse,l
est
thesewoulddoawaywi ththei
rfort
une.Ont heLunarNewYear 'sEv e,
peopleli
ketostickt
he
Chinesechar
acter‘
Happiness'upsi
dedownondoor sorwalls,because‘upsidedown'inChinese
i
sahomophoneof‘ coming'or‘
arri
vi
ng'.

Past
ingcoupl
etsont
hedoor
s

Thecust om ofpast i
ngcoupl etsont hedoor shasal onghistor
y.Int
heanci enttimes, peopl
e
hungshor tbranchesofpeacht r
eeont hedoorsoratt hefr
ontgatesforthepur poseofdr iv
ing
awayt heev i
lthings.Latertheybecamepeachwoodboar dswithsomeChi nesechar acter
s
wri
ttenont hem.Wi t
ht heinventionofpaper ,oneachofwhi chwaswr itt
enav er
selinet o
welcomet heNewYeart oexpr esswi shesforhappinessandgoodf ortune.Dur i
ngthel ongti
me
development ,spri
ngcoupl etshav ebecomeaspeci alform ofl
it
erat
urewi t
ht heirown
characteri
sti
c.

Moder
nChi
neseNewYearAct
ivi
ti
es

Withthepopular
it
yofsmar
tphoneandothermobi
l
edevices,
mor
eandmor epeopleshow
i
nteresti
ngreeti
ngbysmar
tphone,whi
chisver
ypopul
aramongyoungergener
ati
on.

Speci
alFoodf
orSpr
ingFest
ival

Ni
an’
gao(
年糕)
:aki
ndofChi
nesecake,
madebyst
ickyr
ice.I
t’
sani
ndi
spensi
blef
oodi
nChi
nese
NewYearf
ort
hemeani
ngoft
hri
vi
ngi
ntheNewYear
.

Ji
aozi(
饺子) :akindofdumplingsi
nChina.Therear
emanykindsofj
i
aozi
withdi
ffer
ent
i
ngredi
ent
s.ChinesepeopleeatJi
aozi
onNewYear ’sEv
e,peopl
ewhoeatst
heJiaoziwi
thcoi
n
orsomespeciali
ngredi
entwill
bethel
uckiest
.

Fami
l
ymaki
ngdumpl
i
ngt
oget
her

Tangy
uan(汤圆) :aki
ndofdumplingsinChina.Tangyuanwithsesamei nsi
deist
hemost
commonf i
l
li
ng.Therei
sasli
ghtdiff
erencebetweennorthernChinaandsouther
nChi
na.The
fi
ll
i
ngissal
tyi
nnorther
nChina,
whi l
ethatissweetinsouthernChina.

Zongzi
(粽子) :aki
ndofdumplingsi
nChi
na.I
t’
smadeofst
ickyri
cefi
ll
edwi
thdi
ffer
entf
il
li
ngs
andwrappedinbambooleav
es.Meati
sthemainf
il
li
ngi
nsouthernChi
na,
whil
ebeanismain
fi
ll
i
nginnort
hernChi
na.

Act
ivi
ti
esi
nDi
ff
erentPl
aces

Regardi
ngtodif
ferentpl
acesaroundthenat
ion,
peoplewi
llhavedif
ferentact
ivi
ti
estocelebr
ate
thefest
ival
.Dur
ingthefest
ival
,ther
earemanyoperasandotherperf
ormancesont hestages.

Innorther
nChi na,
troupeswil
lperf
orm‘ CaiGaoqiao',meanswalki
ngonsti
l
ts,
whichrequi
res
veryhi
ghskil
lsandgoodsenseofbal ance.Theperformersti
etwowoodensti
lt
stothei
rfeet,
whichmakest hem tal
lert
hanothers.Thentheywi l
ldosomef unnymovement
sorfolkdances.
Peoplecanseet hi
skindofperfor
mancei nBeiji
ng,Tianj
inaswellasLi
aoni
ngandShandong
Provi
nces,et
c.

Inthecapi t
alci
tyBeiji
ng,themostSpr ing-
Festi
v al
acti
vit
yisTempl eFairwhi chheldindi f
ferent
ancienttemples.Templ efairinBeij
i
nghasat ime-honoredhistor
y .Tradit
ionally
,therear e
vari
ouski ndsofperformancesi ntemple.Besi
des, onecanfindtraditi
onal artsandhandi craft
s
aswel lascountlesstastylocalsmacksf r
om craftsmenandv endor salongt hestreets.Most
templef air
sarefeaturesbyt hei
rdragonandliondancingaswel lasf olkperformances.For
for
eignv isi
tor
s,i
tisar areoppor t
unit
ytoexperienceChinesecolor f
ulcultureandt radit
ion.

InGuangzhouCi t
yi nsout hernChina, t
helocalswill
hav etheLionDancet hatisthemost
attractiv
eact i
v i
ti
esamongt henumer ouscelebrat
ions.LionisregardedasamascotbyChi nese,
sot hedanceofLi oni sbel ievedtobringgoodl uckanddr iv
eawayt heev i
lspir
its.The
performer swi l
lmov eimitat i
ngal i
ont othebeatsofdr umsandgongs.Besi dest heLionDance,
theFl owerFai risalsov erypopul arinthecity
.Whent heSpringFesti
val approaches,theflorists
from subur bswi ll
setupt het emporaryshackst osellthei
rfreshandf r
agr antfl
ower s.Thent he
streetwi l
lbebust ledwi thpeopl ewhoi ntendtobuyf lowersprepari
ngf ortheSpr ingFesti
v al.
Traditional
ly,peopl eli
ket obuyapot tedtreewithlovelysmal l
tangeri
neshangi ngi nit
.In
Cant onese, t
anger i
nesoundsl i
ke‘Ji'
,whichmeansgoodl uckandweal th.Thef l
owerf ai
rusual l
y
start
sthreedaysbeforetheSpri
ngFesti
val
.Forlocals,
ther
ecoul
dbenoSpr
ingFest
ivali
fther
e
i
snof l
owerfai
r.Thefairhasahist
orymorethan5, 00year
sint
heci
ty.I
tmi
ghtbeanother
reasonwhyGuangzhoui sfamedasthe‘
Cit
yofFl ower'.

Guil
inCityinGuangxi ZhuangAut onomousRegi oni sanotherplacetoenjoythewonder ful
Lion
Dancei ndif
ferentway.Theliondancei soneoft hemostspect acul
areventsint heci
tyint
he
fest
iveseasons.Thel i
onispl ayedbytwoact ors, oneoft hem playt
heheadpar ttoli
venupthe
l
ionbymov i
ngt heli
on'seyes, mouthandears: andanot heroneisinchargeoft hebodypart.
Fortheliondancecombi nethear twit
hKungFu, somanypl ayershavebeent rai
ned.Thecli
max
ofthedancei sknownas‘ PickingtheGreen'or‘Cai Qing'i
nChinese.TheGr eenr ef
ersto
vegetablel
eavest i
edwi t
har edenv el
opecont ainingmoney ,whichi
shunghi ghabov ethedoor
ofthehouseorbusi ness.Thedr amaticmomentoft heli
onpickingwil
lbev eryimpressi
ve.

Dr
agondanceper
for
mance

DragonDancei sanothert raditi

onal f
est i
veper formancet hatcannotbemi ssed.Dragoni s
regardedast hesy mbol ofdei t
y, emper orandi mper i
al power .Intheanci entt i
mes, peopl e
beli
evedt hatdr agoncanmakecl oudsandr ain,sooncei ndr yseason, t
heypl ayeddragondance
toaskf orrainandagr eeabl eweat her.Intheirmi nds,thiscr eatureisfr
iendl yandhel pful,who
i
nhabi t
si nthebodyofwat er .Whenpl ayt hedr agondance, peopl epref
ert hel ongerdr agon,the
l
ongert hebet ter.I
nsomecommuni t
ies, t
hedr agonsar esol ongt hatr
equi retwent ytot hi
rty
peoplet oplayit.Gener all
y,theDr agonDancei splayedbymanypeopl ewi thspeci all
ymade
stagepr opsint heirhands.Oneper sonusesapear l-
li
ket hingt oleadthedr agon.Thedr agon
willf
ollowitrisingorf all
ing, sl
owl yorr apidl
y.Thescenel ikest hatthedr agonsomet imesf li
es
upt othesky ,andsomet i
meshi dingundert heoceanandbr eakingwav es.Thef ir
edr agoni s
madewi thcandl esputi ntoeachsect ionoft hedr agonbody .Whenper formedatni ght,
fi
recrackersar esetof fatthet ime.Thev i
sit
orsseeanexcel lentsceneoft hef i
redragon
shuttl
ingbackandf ort
hamongf irewor ks.Theper f
ormancecanbeseeni nmanyci ti
esi nChi na.