用英語介紹元旦

　　yuandan is the first day of the lunar calendar. it is the day when the earth has circled the sun for one round and is beginning another circling. it represents a new beginning when people send off the old days and welcome the new ones. as the first day of the year, yuandan has been considered to be the most important festival since the ancient times.

　　customs

　　1. kaisui(beginning of the year): according to the chinese traditional custom, starting from haishi(9p.m. to 11p.m.)of the last evening of the twelfth lunar month, each family must prepare offering s to deities at the altar. at the same time, they too prepare food for the new year day: the whole family will then stay awake together to attend to the year(called shou sui). after haishi, zishi(11p.m. to 1a.m.)will come, and this is the arrival of new year(yuandan). at this moment, people begin the celebration with fireworks. vegetarian and sweet foods will then be placed are the altar for offerings, and incense be burned to welcome the deities. in the ancient times, it was believed that haishi connected the two years and thus was called kaisui.

　　at the same night, some families will follow the instruction in tongshu and place preparing altar in the direction of the "fortune deity" during the "fortune time" to receive the deity. if the direction of the "fortune deity" is at the "ill position", people will choose to receive "happy deity" or "noble deity" instead

　　2. there is an apparent difference in the custom of food taking on yuandan between the chinese in the northern and southern regions. the northern chinese has the habit of taking jiao zi(dumpling made of flour with vegetable and meat wrapped inside). some people may put a sweet or a coin inside jiao zi, hoping to have a sweet year after tasting the sweet and a wealthy year after tasting the coin. on the other hand, the southern chinese have the taboo for killing on yuandan. therefore, they do not take meat in tee morning of yuandan, so as to avoid bloodshed or mutual slaughter. in order to evade misfortune, they have the first meal of this day without meat. instead, they take vegetarian food for the sake of virtue.

　　3. what is special during the new year is that parents or elders will distribute red packets(ang pao or ya sui qian)to the children. people in the ancient times were more particular in giving away the red packets: the distribution took place on the eve of new year so that the kids could suppress the past year and enter the new year. ya sui has the meaning of overcoming the unpredictable future. representing the wishes for the healthy psychological growth of the children, ya sui qian symbolises the elders' hope to see their children overcome all the unpredictable elements brought by the "year".

　　A beautiful wish to you and your family --- live a happy life and everything goes well.

　　英語元旦祝福

　　A happy New Year to you.

　　恭賀新年。

　　Allow me to congratulate you on the arrival of the New Year and to extend to

　　you all my best wishes for your perfect health and lasting prosperity.

　　恭賀新禧，祝身體健康、事業(yè)發(fā)達(dá)。

　　At such a wonderful moment, I send you a gentle and warm care and wish: May every day be brilliant for you!

　　Best wishes for the holidays and happiness throughout the New Year.

　　恭賀新禧，萬事如意。

　　Good health, good luck and much happiness throughout the year.

　　恭祝健康、幸運(yùn)，新年快樂。

　　Best wishes for the year to come!

　　恭賀新禧!

　　Good luck in the year ahead!

　　祝吉星高照!

　　May you come into a good fortune!

　　恭喜發(fā)財!

　　Live long and proper!

　　多福多壽!

　　May many fortunes find their way to you!

　　祝財運(yùn)亨通!

　　I want to wish you longevity and health!

　　愿你健康長壽!

　　Take good care of yourself in the year ahead.

　　請多保重!

　　Wishing you many future successes.

　　祝你今后獲得更大成就。

　　On this special day I send you New Year's greetings and hope that some day soon we shall be together.

　　在這特殊的日子，向你致以新年的祝福，希望不久我們能相聚在一起。

　　I would like to wish you a joyous new year and express my hope for your happiness and good future.

　　祝新年快樂，并愿你幸福吉祥，前程似錦。

　　May the New Year bring many good things and rich blessings to you and all those you love!

　　愿新年帶給你和你所愛的人許多美好的事物和無盡的祝福!

　　Rich blessings for health and longevity is my special wish for you in the coming year.

　　祝你在新的一年里身體健康，多福多壽。

　　Good luck, good health, hood cheer. I wish you a happy New Year.

　　祝好運(yùn)、健康、佳肴伴你度過一個快樂新年。

　　With best wishes for a happy New Year!

　　祝新年快樂，并致以良好的祝福。

　　I hope you have a most happy and prosperous New Year.

　　謹(jǐn)祝新年快樂幸福，大吉大利。