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| Must-dos for China's Spring Festival |
| The Spring Festival, which marks the beginning of a new year in the lunar calendar, is considered one of the most important occasions in China and has been celebrated for thousands of years |
The Spring Festival, which marks the beginning of a new year in the lunar calendar, is considered one of the most important occasions in China and has been celebrated for thousands of years.
Chinese people have certain conventions on this special day. The most famous one is family reunion. Family members are supposed to come back home from every corner of the world to conclude the past year and wish for the best for the new year.
This custom has created one the world's most significant annual human migration. During the Spring Festival travel rush, Chinese are estimated to make over three billion trips by plane, train, bus, motorbike, even on foot.
Travel during this time is, naturally, quite a burden. But it is the joy to be surrounded by families and comfort to lay in the bed of your childhood That makes it worthwhile.
The theme color of the Chinese new year is red. Couplets conveying new year wishes need to be pasted on the front door before midnight to ensure blessings. Joyous pictures are also necessary for wall and window decoration.
Ultimate happiness comes on the new year's eve, when all family members gathered around to enjoy a feast that traditionally took half a month to prepare.
If you manage to get an invitation to the dinner, that means your Chinese friend treats you like a family. Some Chinese new year greetings and a self-made dish for the night will make you an honor guest.
To guarantee best taste, dumplings are better handmade. They must be ready before midnight, and eaten around 12 o'clock to mark the coming of the new year, particularly in north China.
Don't forget the fireworks. It used to be firecrackers as Chinese traditionally believe the laud sound would scare off evil beasts, but now they prefer mass fireworks as an eye feast.
You don't want to miss the lion dance and the dragon dance, in which performers dressed in costumes imitating movements of lions and dragons. Maybe you will be motivated by the spirit and energy of the symbolical animals.
A visit to the temple to see various kinds of activities during the festival is highly recommended. Most of the performances are believed to bring good luck, and participants will surely be blessed with new skills and best memory.
Traditionally, the 15th day of the first lunar month marks the end of new year celebrations. People make all kinds of lanterns to show off on that day, so it's also known as the Lantern Festival.
Nowadays the Lantern Festival is considered separated from the Spring Festival as people have to work for a week between them. But don't worry. You will still see all the lanterns and performances. And the best part is, everything will come back again next year.
(Xinhua News Agency February 6, 2016)
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