Spring Festival Traditions
During the period from the 23rd day of the previous lunar month to the event, every family does a thorough house cleaning and purchases enough food, including fish, meat, roasted nuts and seeds, all kinds of candies and fruits, etc, for the festival period. Also, new clothes must be bought, especially for children. Red scrolls with complementary poetic couplets, one line on each side of the gate, are pasted at every gate. The Chinese character 'Fu' is pasted on the center of the door and paper-cut pictures adorn windows. Everyone looks forward eagerly to the New Year.
Lanterns are sold in the street. On New Year's Eve, no matter where he is, every member will try his best to come back to enjoy the family reunion feast in which jiaozi in north China and niangao (a kind of sticky rice cake) in the south are the indispensable foods. Family members chat or watch special TV programs all night. To show respect for their ancestors, some families burn incense and prepare delicious food at home. Fireworks are set continuously, among which the midnight blasts are the most thunderous.
On the first day of Spring Festival, wearing their new clothes, people visit relatives and friends to extend New Year's greetings and invite them to visit. Next, people begin to visit their distant relatives. In cities and suburbs, colorful activities include Temple Fairs, Yangge dancing, and lion and dragon dancing.
The Spring Festival lasts until the Lantern Festival begins fifteen days later marking the end of the Chinese New Year. It is celebrated by Chinese people at home and abroad. Everyone immerses in the festive atmosphere, and exchanges wishes for a good harvest year.
