春节习俗（二）
The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Chinese people and is when all family members get together, just like Christmas in the West. All people living away from home go back, becoming the busiest time for transportation systems of about half a month from the Spring Festival. Airports, railway stations and long-distance bus stations are crowded with home returnees.
对中国人来说，春节是最重要的节日，春节是家里所有的成员相聚的时刻，就像西方的圣诞节一样。所有远离家乡的人都会回来，因此春运交通系统最繁忙的时刻大约持续半个月。机场，火车站和长途汽车站挤满了回家的人们。
The Spring Festival falls on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month, often one month later than the Gregorian calendar. It originated in the Shang Dynasty (c. 1600 BC-c. 1100 BC) from the people's sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.
Strictly speaking, the Spring Festival starts every year in the early days of the 12th lunar month and will last till the mid 1st lunar month of the next year. Of them, the most important days are Spring Festival Eve and the first three days. The Chinese government now stipulates people have seven days off for the Chinese Lunar New Year.
春节是阴历的第一天，通常比阳历晚一个月。春节起源于商朝（公元前1600-公元前1100年）人们在年末岁初的时候供奉上帝和祖先。严格来讲，春节每年于阴历第十二个月的早些时候一直持续到下一年的阴历第一个月。在这段期间，最重要的日子就是除夕和正月初一至初三这几天。中国政府现在规定人们在春节休假七天。
Many customs accompany the Spring Festival. Some are still followed today, but others have weakened.
有许多伴随春节的风俗。一些习俗今天仍然被延续着，而有一些风俗已经渐渐被遗忘了。
On the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, many families make laba porridge, a delicious kind of porridge made with glutinous rice, millet, seeds of Job's tears, jujube berries, lotus seeds, beans, longan and gingko.
在阴历腊月初八，许多家庭煮由糯米，小米，薏米，红枣浆果，莲子，豆类，龙眼，银杏组成的美味八宝粥。
The 23rd day of the 12th lunar month is called Preliminary Eve. At this time, people offer sacrifice to the kitchen god. Now however, most families make delicious food to enjoy themselves.
After the Preliminary Eve, people begin preparing for the coming New Year. This is called "Seeing the New Year in".
腊月二十三被称作小年。在这一天，人们会祭拜灶神。然而现在，许多家庭会做可口的饭菜自个享受。小年以后，人们开始准备即将到来春节的年货，翘首迎新年。
Store owners are busy then as everybody goes out to purchase necessities for the New Year. Materials not only include edible oil, rice, flour, chicken, duck, fish and meat, but also fruit, candies and kinds of nuts. What's more, various decorations, new clothes and shoes for the children as well as gifts for the elderly, friends and relatives, are all on the list of purchasing.
Before the New Year comes, the people completely clean the indoors and outdoors of their homes as well as their clothes, bedclothes and all their utensils.
商店店主在那个时候会很忙因为每个人都出去购买春节的必需品。所买东西不仅包括食用油，大米，面粉，鸡鸭鱼肉，还有水果，糖果和各种坚果。尤为重要的是各种各样的装饰品，比如给小孩买新衣服和新鞋和给老人，朋友和亲戚买礼物。在新年到来之前，人们彻底地清扫室内和室外以及洗衣服，床上用品和所有的餐具。
Then people begin decorating their clean rooms featuring an atmosphere of rejoicing and festivity. All the door panels will be pasted with Spring Festival couplets, highlighting Chinese calligraphy with black characters on red paper. The content varies from house owners' wishes for a bright future to good luck for the New Year. Also, pictures of the god of doors and wealth will be posted on front doors to ward off evil spirits and welcome peace and abundance.
然后人们开始装饰干净的房间，营造喜庆和欢乐的节日氛围。把所有的门板上贴上突出中国书法的红纸黑字春联。春联内容丰富多彩有房主希望锦绣前程和期盼来年好运。为了避开恶鬼在前门上也会贴上门神和财神来欢迎和平与富足。
The Chinese character "fu" (meaning blessing or happiness) is a must. The character put on paper can be pasted normally or upside down, for in Chinese the "reversed fu" is homophonic with "fu comes", both being pronounced as "fudaole." What's more, two big red lanterns can be raised on both sides of the front door. Red paper-cuttings can be seen on window glass and brightly colored New Year paintings with auspicious meanings may be put on the wall.
People attach great importance to Spring Festival Eve. At that time, all family members eat dinner together. The meal is more luxurious than usual. Dishes such as chicken, fish and bean curd cannot be excluded, for in Chinese, their pronunciations, respectively "ji", "yu" and "doufu," mean auspiciousness, abundance and richness. After the dinner, the whole family will sit together, chatting and watching TV. In recent years, the Spring Festival party broadcast on China Central Television Station (CCTV) is essential entertainment for the Chinese both at home and abroad. According to custom, each family will stay up to see the New Year in.
意味着祝福和快乐的福字不可缺少。福字可以正着糊也可以倒着粘贴，因为在汉语中，‘倒福’和‘福到’是同音的，发的音都是‘福到了’。尤其是，房子前门口的两边可以吊两个大红灯笼。在窗户玻璃上可以看到红色剪花和在墙上可以挂具有吉祥含义的颜色鲜艳的年画。
Waking up on New Year, everybody dresses up. First they extend greetings to their parents. Then each child will get money as a New Year gift, wrapped up in red paper. People in northern China will eat jiaozi, or dumplings, for breakfast, as they think "jiaozi" in sound means "bidding farewell to the old and ushering in the new". Also, the shape of the dumpling is like gold ingot from ancient China. So people eat them and wish for money and treasure.
Southern Chinese eat niangao (New Year cake made of glutinous rice flour) on this occasion, because as a homophone, niangao means "higher and higher, one year after another." The first five days after the Spring Festival are a good time for relatives, friends, and classmates as well as colleagues to exchange greetings, gifts and chat leisurely.
春节早晨早点起床然后每个人打扮好穿上新衣服。首先向父母送出问候，然后每个孩子都会得到作为新年礼物的红包。北方人早晨会吃饺子，因为他们认为饺子的声音意味着告别旧年，迎接新年，同样饺子的形状像中国古代的金元宝，因此人们吃饺子来盼望财富。南方人在春节早晨吃年糕（由糯米粉制作的新年年糕），因为年糕的同音是每年节节高升。春节后的前五天是拜访亲戚，朋友，同学，同事来互致问候，互送礼物和悠闲聊天的好时候。
Burning fireworks was once the most typical custom on the Spring Festival. People thought the spluttering sound could help drive away evil spirits. However, such an activity was completely or partially forbidden in big cities once the government took security, noise and pollution factors into consideration. As a replacement, some buy tapes with firecracker sounds to listen to, some break little balloons to get the sound too, while others buy firecracker handicrafts to hang in the living room.
The lively atmosphere not only fills every household, but permeates to streets and lanes. A series of activities such as lion dancing, dragon lantern dancing, lantern festivals and temple fairs will be held for days. The Spring Festival then comes to an end when the Lantern Festival is finished.
China has 56 ethnic groups. Minorities celebrate their Spring Festival almost the same day as the Han people, and they have different customs.
放鞭炮曾经是春节最典型的习俗。人们认为噼里啪啦的鞭炮声可以帮助赶走坏运恶鬼。然而由于政府考虑到安全，噪音和污染放鞭炮在一些大城市已经被部分和彻底禁止了。取而代之，一些人买鞭炮声的录音带听，一些人弄破小气球来制造声音，而其他人买鞭炮手工艺品挂在客厅里。不仅每一个家庭，而且街道上和小巷里都弥漫着春节喜庆热闹的氛围。一系列的庆祝活动例如舞狮，灯节和庙会将会持续几天。当灯展进入尾声的时候，春节也就结束了。中国一共有56个民族，少数民族和汉族人们几乎是在同一天庆祝春节而且他们有不同的风俗习惯。
