CHINESE NEW YEAR

　　Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.

　　The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle is about 29.5 days. In order to "catch up" with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.

　　New Year's Eve and New Year's Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.

　　The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.

　　The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.

　　中國(guó)的春節(jié)始于中國(guó)農(nóng)歷，其起源因太古老，而無(wú)法考究。其中有一種說(shuō)法是"年"原來(lái)是一種怪獸的名字。

　　The Chinese New Year is now popularly known as the Spring Festival because it starts from the Beginning of Spring (the first of the twenty-four terms in coordination with the changes of Nature)。 Its origin is too old to be traced. Several explanations are hanging around. All agree， however， that the word Nian， which in modern Chinese solely means "year"， was originally the name of a monster beast that started to prey on people the night before the beginning of a new year.

　　the tradition of observing the conquest of Nian is carried on from generation to generation. The term "Guo Nian"， which may mean "Survive the Nian" becomes today "Celebrate the (New) Year" as the word "guo" in Chinese having both the meaning of "pass-over" and "observe". The custom of putting up red paper and firing fire-crackers to scare away Nian should it have a chance to run loose is still around. However， people today have long forgotten why they are doing all this， except that they feel the color and the sound add to the excitement of the celebration.

　　至此，趨趕年獸的方法流傳了一代又一代。過(guò)年這個(gè)詞，也由原來(lái)的躲避年售，變成現(xiàn)在的慶祝新年。過(guò)年帖紅紙，放鞭炮的習(xí)俗延續(xù)了下來(lái)�，F(xiàn)在的人們，只有這種顏色，這種聲音能讓他們過(guò)年的興奮。

　　逛廟會(huì)

　　Temple Fair

 

　　Temple fair, usually held outside temples, is a kind of folk custom in China. During the Spring Festival, temple fair is one of the most important activities, in which there are such performances as acrobatics and Wushu, numerous kinds of local snacks and many kinds of things for everyday life. In recent years, the temple fair has become a place for people to appreciate the traditional art and experience the traditional life.