Chinese Spring Festival

Xin Nian Kuai Le (i.e. Happy New Year)

One of the oldest and most significant festivals, the Chinese Spring Festival is well-known globally.  It is the time of the year, where millions of Chinese people staying abroad, travel to china and throw their selves into the festive mood by celebrating the Chinese Lunar New Year. Each year is named after an animal and the year 2012 is the year of the Dragon.

Since the Chinese use a lunar calendar, the date of the Spring Festival differs each year. It usually takes place during the end of January or the beginning of February.
The spring festival includes two weeks of magnificent celebration. For the Chinese this is a time for family celebration, and a way to give respect to the family ancestors and the gods. To prepare for the Chinese New Year, the Chinese decorate their houses with peace & luck signs, couplets, and red lanterns.
On the first day, people go to the temple to worship ancestors, given offerings for blessings and welcome the New Year. Another tradition is the elders of the family hand out money in red envelopes to the young as red symbolized luck and prosperity.
On the Chinese New Year's Eve, their homes are lit up and every one gathers for a grand family feast. Large delicacies like dumplings, spring rolls, fish, meat, chicken, noodles, etc. are prepared and served. Most people stay up late to enjoy fireworks or merely watch the grand celebration on TV.
Activities like dragon lantern dancing, lion dancing, and lantern carnival take place on the first day, New Year's Eve, and on the last day with the completion of the Lantern Festival.
This officially marks the end of the Chinese spring festival.
To know more about the Chinese culture and traditions, learn to speak Chinese. Nowadays we have great sources available online. All you have to do is browse at your convenience, from the comfort of your home and take lessons online. You don’t event have to drag yourself to a learning center.
Learn Chinese online and know more about the Chinese culture.