ChineseNewYearCelebrationisthemostimportantcelebrationoftheyear.ChinesepeoplemaycelebratetheChineseNewYearinslightlydifferentwaysbuttheirwishesarealmostthesame;theywanttheirfamilymembersandfriendstobehealthyandluckyduringnextyear.

　　春节庆祝活动是一年中最重要的庆祝活动。中国人庆祝春节的方式可能略微不同，但其愿望几乎是相同的，他们希望其家人和朋友来年健康和幸运。

ChineseNewYearCelebrationusuallylastsfor15days.CelebratoryactivitiesincludeChineseNewFeast,firecrackers,givingluckymoneytochildren,theNewYearbellringingandChineseNewYearGreetings.MostofChinesepeoplewillstopthecelebratingintheirhomeonthe7thdayofNewYearbecausethenationalholidayusuallyendsaroundthatday,howevercelebrationsinpublicareascanlastuntilthe15thdayofNewYear.

　　春节庆祝活动通常持续15天。庆祝活动包括春节的年夜饭，放鞭炮，给儿童压岁钱，春节钟声和春节问候。大多数中国人将在春节的第7天停止庆祝活动，因为全国性节假通常在这一天结束，但在公共场所的庆祝活动可能最终持续到正月十五。

HouseCleaning房屋打扫

TocleanhousesontheNewYearEveisaveryoldcustomdatingbacktothousandsofyearsago.Thedustistraditionallyassociatedwith“old”socleaningtheirhousesandsweepingthedustmeantobidfarewelltothe“old”andusherinthenew.DaysbeforetheNewYear,Chinesefamiliescleantheirhouses,sweepingthefloor,washingdailythings,cleaningthespiderwebsanddredgingtheditches.Peopledoallthesethingshappilyinthehopeofagood 　　春节打扫房屋这个非常古老的习俗甚至可以追溯到几千年前。灰尘在传统上与“旧”联系在一起，所以打扫房屋和扫除灰尘意味着辞“旧”迎“新”。春节的前几天，中国的各家各户都打扫房屋，扫地，清洗日用品，清除蛛网和疏浚沟渠。人们兴高采烈做所有这些事情，希望来年好运。

Housedecoration房屋装饰

Oneofthehousedecorationsistopostcoupletsondoors.OntheSpringFestivalcouplets,goodwishesareexpressed.NewYearcoupletsareusuallypostedinpairsasevennumbersareassociatedwithgoodluckandauspiciousnessinChineseculture.

　　房屋装饰之一就是在门上贴对联。在春联上，抒发良好的祝愿。春联通常是成对张贴，因为双数在中国文化中是好运气和吉祥的象征。

PeopleinnorthChinaareusedtopostingpaper-cutontheirwindows.Whenstickingthewindowdecorationpaper-cuts,peoplepasteonthedoorlargeredChinesecharacter“fu”Aredfumeansgoodluckandfortune,soitiscustomarytopostfuondoorsorwallsonauspiciousoccasionssuchaswedding,festivals.

　　在中国北方，人们习惯于在窗户上贴剪纸。人们既在窗户上贴剪纸，又在大门上贴上大大的红色汉字“福”字，一个红色“福”字意味着好运和财富，因此习惯上在婚礼，节日之类的吉祥场合中，人们都会在门或墙上贴“福”字。

WaitingfortheFirstBellRingingofChineseNewYear等待春节的第一声钟鸣

ThefirstbellringingisthesymbolofChineseNewYear.ChinesepeopleliketogotoalargesquareswheretherearehugebellsaresetuponNewYear’sEve.AstheNewYearapproachestheycountdownandcelebratetogether.Thepeoplebelievethattheringingofhugebellcandriveallthebadluckawayandbringthefortunetothem.Inrecentyears,somepeoplehavebegungoingtomountaintemplestowaitforthefirstringing.HanshanTempleinSuzhou,isaveryfamoustempleforitsfirstringingofthebelltoheraldChineseNewYear.ManyforeignersnowgotoHanshanTempletocelebrateChineseNewYear.

　　第一次钟声是春节的象征。中国人喜欢到一个大广场，那里有为除夕设置的大钟。随着春节的临近，他们开始倒计数并一起庆祝。人们相信了大钟的撞响可以驱除霉运，带来好运。近年来，有些人开始去山上寺庙等待第一次钟声。苏州的寒山寺就非常著名，它的钟声宣布春节的到来。现在有许多外国人也去寒山寺庆祝春节。

Stayinguplate(Shousui)熬夜(“守岁”)

ShousuimeanstostayuplateorallnightonNewYearsEve.Afterthegreatdinner,familiessittogetherandchathappilytowaitfortheNewYear’sarrival。

　　守岁意味着除夕夜不睡觉。年夜饭后，家人聚坐一起，愉快聊天，等待春节的到来。

NewYearFeast年夜饭

SpringFestivalisatimeforfamilyreunion.TheNewYearsFeastisamustbanquetwithallthefamilymembersgettingtogether.ThefoodeatenontheNewYearEvebanquetvariesaccordingtoregions.InsouthChina,Itiscustomarytoeatniangao(NewYearcakemadeofglutinousriceflour)becauseasahomophone,niangaomeanshigherandhighereveryyear.Inthenorth,atraditionaldishforthefeastisJiaoziordumplingsshapedlikeacrescentmoon.

　　春节是与家人团聚的时间。年夜饭是所有家庭成员聚在一起“必须”的宴会。除夕宴会上吃的食物根据不同的地区各不相同。在中国南方，习惯吃“年糕”(糯米粉制成的新年糕点)，因为作为一个同音字，年糕意味着“步步高升”。在北方，年夜饭的传统饭是“饺子”或像月牙儿形的汤圆。

SettingFirecrackers燃放鞭炮

LightingFirecrackersusedtobeoneofthemostimportantcustomsintheSpringFestivalcelebration.However,concerningthedangerandthenegativenoisesthatlightingfirecrackersmaybring,thegovernmenthasbannedthispracticeinmanymajorcities.Butpeopleinsmalltownsandruralareasstillholdtothistraditionalcelebration.Rightastheclockstrikes12oclockmidnightofNewYearsEve,citiesandtownsarelitupwiththeglitterfromfireworks,andthesoundcanbedeafening.Familiesstayupforthisjoyfulmomentandkidswithfirecrackersinonehandandalighterinanothercheerfullylighttheirhappinessinthisespecialoccasion,eventhoughtheyplugtheirears.

　　放鞭炮曾是春节庆祝活动中最重要的习俗之一。然而，担心燃放鞭炮可能会带来危险和烦人的噪音，政府已在许多大城市下令禁止燃放鞭炮。但在小城镇和农村地区的人们仍然坚持这种传统的庆祝活动。除夕夜一旦时钟撞响午夜12点钟，城市和乡镇都被烟花的闪闪光芒映亮，鞭炮声震耳欲聋。一家人熬夜就为这个欢乐的时刻，孩子们一手拿鞭炮，一手拿火机兴高采烈地点放着他们在这个特殊节日的快乐，尽管他们吓得捂着耳朵。

NewYearGreetings(BaiNian)春节的问候(拜年)

OnthefirstdayoftheNewYearorshortlythereafter,everybodywearsnewclothesandgreetsrelativesandfriendswithbowsandGongxi(congratulations)，wishingeachothergoodluck,happinessduringthenewyear.InChinesevillages,somevillagersmayhavehundredsofrelativessotheyhavetospendmorethantwoweeksvisitingtheirrelatives.

　　在春节第一天或此后不久，大家都穿着新衣服，带着弓向亲戚和朋友打招呼并恭喜(祝贺)，彼此祝愿在新的一年里好运，幸福。在中国农村，有些村民可能有数以百计的亲戚，所以他们不得不拿出两个多星期来走亲访友。

Onthefirstdayofthenewyear,it’scustomaryfortheyoungergenerationstovisittheelders,wishingthemhealthyandlongevity.

　　春节第一天，按习惯，小一辈人要拜见老一辈，祝愿他们健康长寿。

Becausevisitingrelativesandfriendstakesalotoftime,now,somebusypeoplewillsendNewYearcardstoexpresstheirgoodwishesratherthanpayavisitpersonally.

　　因为探亲访友花费大量时间，所以，现在有些忙碌的人就送春节贺卡来表达他们的良好祝愿，而不是亲自去拜访。

LuckyMoney压岁钱

ItisthemoneygiventokidsfromtheirparentsandgrandparentsasNewYeargift.Themoneyisbelievedtobringgoodluck,wardoffmonsters;hencethenameluckymoney.Parentsandgrandparentsfirstputmoneyinsmall,especially-maderedenvelopesandgivetheredenvelopestotheirkidsaftertheNewYearsFeastorwhenthey 　　这是孩子们的父母和祖父母给他们作为春节礼物的钱。压岁钱据说能带来好运，能驱魔；因此，就有了“压岁钱”的称呼。父母和祖父母先把钱放入特制的小红包里，年夜饭后或当孩子们来拜年时，将红包发给他们。他们之所以要把钱放到红包里，是因为中国人认为红色是个幸运色。他们想给自己孩子既有压岁钱还有幸运色。