Blog 3 Spring Festival

I want to introduce Chinese spring festival in blog 3. Spring Festival is the most important festival in China. It’s to celebrate the lunar calendar’s new year. There is an old story about spring festival. One legend goes that the beast Nian had a very big mouth that would swallow a great many people with one bite. People were very scared. But Nian was very scared of red and sound of firecrackers. The custom of putting up red paper and firing firecrackers is to scare away Nian. Since then the annual New Year's Eve, families paste red couplets, set off firecrackers. This custom of the more mass the more widely and became the most solemn of Chinese folk traditional festivals.

The spring festival always starts February, and lasts about 15 days long. Shortly before spring festival, Chinese people are busy shopping. They buy vegetables, fish, meat, fruits, seafood and snacks to entertain their friends and relatives. They clean their houses and decorate them to improve festival atmosphere. In addition, people put New Year scrolls on the wall for good fortune. In the evening before the Spring Festival, families get together and have a big meal. Dumplings are the most traditional food. After dinner, always at 8 o’ clock, almost every family watch the festival party together. At that time, people usually set off firecrackers, which is very interesting. At twelve o’clock, Chinese people like to hear the New Year Jow. 

Children like the festival very much, because they can have delicious food and wear new clothes. They can also get some money from their parents and grandparents. This money is given to children for good luck, which called Hongbao. People visit relatives and friends with the words “Have all your wishes ” and “Happy New Year.” People enjoy the Spring Festival, because during this time they can have a good rest, and they can connect with old friends.

On the first day of the lunar calendar, which is the first day in new year. People often worship their ancestor. After that, they will do some entertainment with their friends, such as playing Majiang，which is a Chinese transitional game. And on the second day of the lunar calendar, people always visit their grandparents and company with them. 

Another important day is Lantern Festival, which is on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month. This is the first full moon of the new year, symbolizing unity and perfection. Lantern Festival is an important part of spring festival, and marks the official end of the long holiday. On the Lantern Festival we can eat Yuanxiao, which is a kind of sweet dumpling and made with sticky rice flour filled with sweet stuffing. And the festival is named after the famous dumpling. Guessing lantern riddles is also an essential part of the festival. Lantern owners write riddles on a piece of paper and post them on the lanterns. If visitors have solutions to the riddles, they can pull the paper out and go to the lantern owners to check their answer. If they are right, they will get a little gift. As riddle guessing is interesting and full of wisdom, it has become popular among all social strata.