Spring Festival 春节

Spring Festival Is the most important traditional Chinese festival; Is also called the Chinese New Year; Starts on Jan 1st of the Chinese lunar calendar and lasts for 15 days. All schools are closed during this time with most people having at least 7 days off. The color for this festival is red.

Spring Festival Before the festival, people clean and decorate their houses. “对联” (dui4 lian2) is usually a common decoration. The most important time during the long festival is the New Year’s Eve. Family members gather together to have an elaborate meal. Most people stay late into the night, and some people don’t sleep at all. In some areas, sons visit parents on the first day of the New Year and daughters on the following day. People also spend time visiting relatives and friends. “Red envelopes” (红包) containing money are distributed to children. People use fireworks to celebrate the festival.

Fireworks

Food for Spring Festival The festival has many special foods, the names of which usually have similar pronunciation to some lucky words. These special foods vary in different areas. One thing in common is that each area has their own regional specialties. In northern China, special dumplings and rice are popular. In southern China, people eat rice cakes, fish, green vegetable, etc.

饺子 (Dumplings)

Fish

Rice Cakes

Dinner for the New Year Ev

New Traditions of Spring Festival The most important new tradition, started in 1984, is the Spring Festival Gala organized by Central Chinese TV Channel (CCTV). People have formed the habit of watching it every year although it has also received a fair amount of criticism. A clip of Spring Festival Gala in 2007: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOzGrPd7QvE&feature=related Some people choose to travel during the spring festival. http://www.tudou.com/programs/view/QtSZlTV7K4k/ (饮食男女)

春运(“Spring Transportation”) Around 2 billion people travel during “Spring Transportation” time, which causes a lot of pressure on transportation. It’s especially crowded in railway stations and on trains, since most people travel by the train.