FrEe AiR
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United States
February 6, 2008
Today is new year's eve, I just finished my great dinner. Now, I am here and want to tell you something about Chinese New Year-----the Spring Festival. Far and away the most important holiday in China is Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year. To the Chinese people it is as important as Christmas to people in the West. The dates for this annual celebration are determined by the lunar calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar, so the timing of the holiday varies from late January to early February.
To the ordinary Chinese, the festival actually begins on the eve of the lunar New Year's Day and ends on the fifth day of the first month of the lunar calendar. But the 15th of the first month, which normally is called the Lantern Festival, means the official end of the Spring Festival in many parts of the country.
Preparations for the New Year begin at the last few days of the last moon, when houses are thoroughly cleaned, debts repaid, hair cut and new clothes purchased. Houses are festooned with paper scrolls bearing auspicious antithetical couplet (as show on both side of the page) and in many homes, people burn incense at home and in the temples to pay respects to ancestors and ask the gods for good health in the coming months.
"Guo Nian," meaning "passing the year," is the common term among the Chinese people for celebrating the Spring Festival. It actually means greeting the new year. At midnight at the turn of the old and new year, people used to let off fire-crackers which serve to drive away the evil spirits and to greet the arrival of the new year. In an instant the whole city would be engulfed in the deafening noise of the firecrackers.
On New Year's Eve, all the members of families come together to feast. Jiaozi, a steamed dumpling as pictured below, is popular in the north, while southerners favor a sticky sweet glutinous rice pudding called nian gao.
On the New Year’s Day, children and unmarried people are much happier. Because they can get the red envelopes with lucky money from their parents and other married people. And also they can get new clothes as presents. Some of the lucky money is saved in the bank and some is used to buy what we need Later I’ll show you some beautiful fireworks .Hope you love China, love the Spring Festival.
And welcom to China to see the 2008 Olympic Games!
Jiaozi
Firework
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08:18 AM Mar 01 2008 |
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brasilero
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07:12 AM Feb 24 2008 |
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Marsei11e
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03:00 AM Feb 13 2008 |
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rockyzhang1981
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