2.  Chinese New Year 2008 is the date of Feb 7th, 2008.

3.  Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon （新月） on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon （满月） 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival （元宵节）, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.  Most Chinese take the time to visit their relatives and invite friends to dinner to celebrate the festivals.

4.  The origin of the Chinese New Year is too old to be traced. One explanation has it 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.  The beast Nian had a very big mouth that would swallow many people, which of course scared them. One day, an old man came and offered to subdue Nian. He said to Nian, "I hear that you are very capable, but can you swallow other beasts of prey instead of people who are by no means your worthy opponents?" So, it did swallow many of the beasts of prey.

5.  After that, the old man, riding the beast Nian, disappeared. He turned out to be an immortal god. Now that Nian is gone and other beasts of prey also disappeared, 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.

6.  From then on, the tradition of observing the conquest of Nian is carried on from generation to generation. The term "Guo Nian " becomes today "Celebrate the (New) Year" as the word "guo" in Chinese having both the meaning of "pass-over" and "observe".  The custom of putting up red paper and firing fire-crackers to scare away Nian should it 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.

8.  All foods are favored for their auspicious sounds.  Lots of people go to restaurants to have their celebration dinners.  In the north, small meat dumplings (jiao3zi 饺子 ) and steamed-wheat bread (man 2tou2 馒头 ) were the preferred food. The tremendous amount of food symbolizes abundance and wealth for the household.

9.  Other foods include a whole fish, to represent togetherness and abundance, and a chicken for prosperity.  The chicken must be presented with a head, tail and feet to symbolize completeness. Noodles should be uncut, as they represent long life.

10.  In south China, the favorite and most typical dishes were nian gao, sweet steamed glutinous rice （糯米） pudding and zong zi (glutinous rice wrapped up in reed （芦苇） leaves), another popular delicacy.

11. He2 qi4 sheng1 cai2 Harmony brings wealth Yi1 fan1 feng1 shun4 Wishing you every success

12. Gong3 xi3 fa1 cai2 Wishing you prosperity Jin1 yu4 man3 tang2 Treasures fill the home Sui4 sui4 ping2 an1 Peace all year round Xin1 xiang2 shi4 cheng2 May all your wishes come true Ji2 xiang2 Ru2 yi4 Everything goes well Bu4 bu4 gao1 sheng1 Promoting to a higher position

13.  A traditional song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7laBfy89qK8  CCTV Spring Festival Celebration (not yet out, New Year file) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9n6ci4Zsb8  Beijing fireworks (07 file) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQiwK35HvO4  Traditionally, the Chinese also go to temple fairs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGQRNzrCg5c&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGQRNzrCg5c&feature=related (old file)  Shanghai and Guangzhou fireworks (07 files) http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=shanghai+spring+fe stival&search=Search http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XW_CyT7BeM&feature=related

14.  Taiwan Spring Festival 1, 2, 3  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW9a9Ss ChQ4 (accessed 1.29.08) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW9a9Ss ChQ4  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq2oLF2J VrY&feature=related (accessed 1.29.08) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq2oLF2J VrY&feature=related  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Tyq0O hgEc&feature=related (accessed 1.29.08) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Tyq0O hgEc&feature=related  From Discovery Channel, complete, recommended

15.  Hong Kong fireworks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChMC_sYVX zE  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1IulShbv uw&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1IulShbv uw&feature=related

16.  Lots of young people also go on vacationing.  Gifts not to be sent include zhong 钟， which sounds like death ， xie 鞋, means secretly giving somebody a hard time, or four items of gifts because si 四, also sounds like death.

17.  新年快乐！ xīn nián kuài lè Happy New Year!  过年好！ ɡ uò nián h ǎ o Happy New Year!  恭喜发财！ɡ ōn ɡ x ǐ fā cái I wish You Great Prosperity!  鼠年吉祥！ sh ǔ nián jí xiáng Good Luck in the Year of the Rat!

18.  http://www.echineselearning.com/chinese- nehtmw-year-2008.html#date http://www.echineselearning.com/chinese- nehtmw-year-2008.html#date  http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/ 2004-01/19/content_359389. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/ 2004-01/19/content_359389  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW9a9Ss ChQ4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW9a9Ss ChQ4  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Tyq0O hgEc&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Tyq0O hgEc&feature=related  Accessed 1.28.08 and 1.29.08