China Daily 双语新闻

这些年过的春节年味儿越飘越淡

The Spring Festival travel rush, witnessed by tens of thousands people going home, gets more and more frightening every year. Firecrackers are more extravagant. The Spring Festival eve dinner gets even more delicious. However, most Chinese people feel that the atmosphere of Spring Festival, or Nianwei, is fading. How come? Why we feel less excited than before when we mention the Spring Festival?

虽然春运潮一年比一年猛，鞭炮和礼花一年比一年热烈，年夜饭一年比一年丰盛，很多国人却感到年味儿越来越淡了。年味儿为什么会变淡？我们提到过年时为什么不再有儿时的期盼和兴奋？

年味儿是什么味？

What is Nianwei? What kind of atmosphere is it?

It is the excitement and expectation on the way home; it is the smile on parents’ faces when we arrive;

It is the happiness of the whole family sitting together chatting; it is our toast to our elders at dinner;

It is the smell of fireworks going off outside; it is the jiaozi (dumpling) for the Spring Festival eve dinner that mom has been busy preparing;

It is the enjoyment of going to the temple fair and watching the dragon dance, a scene that drags us back to childhood; it is the friendly ambiance in which everyone says “Happy New Year” no matter whether they know each other or not;

It is the red lanterns hanging everywhere…

Nianwei, the Spring Festival atmosphere, is happiness, peace and reunions…

什么是年味？

年味是回家途中的激动与期盼，是踏入家门时爸妈的笑脸；

是全家团圆的喜乐气氛，是晚辈孝敬长辈围坐在桌前敬的那一杯酒；

是屋外烟花闪耀飘进鼻内的一股幽香，是妈妈忙前忙后做的一顿年夜饭中的饺子；是逛庙会看着舞龙仿佛又回到童年的一种享受，是甭管认识不认识，见面都说过年好的那种友好感觉；

是满大街挂满了红灯笼充满了祝福话语的那种气氛。。。。。。

“年味”是喜庆、是平安、是团圆。。。。。。

过年习俗

Cleaning: In Chinese, the pronunciation of “尘”（dust）and “陈”（stale things）are the same, so cleaning the dust before the Spring Festival eve means kicking poverty and bad luck out of the house. The tradition embodies people’s hope to bid farewell to the old and usher in the new.

扫尘：按民间的说法，因“尘”与“陈”谐音，新春扫尘有“除尘布新”的涵义，其用意是要把一切穷运、晦气统统扫出门。这一习俗寄托着人们破旧立新的愿望

和辞旧迎新的祈求。

Spring Festival couplets: The tradition of pasting Spring Festival couplets on the doors originated during the Song Dynasty and became popular during the Ming Dynasty. The couplets are composed of neat, antithetic, compact, compact and ingenious words to describe society and express good wishes. It is a unique Chinese literary form.

贴春联：这一习俗起源于宋代，在明代开始盛行。春联以工整、对偶、简洁、精巧的文字描绘时代背景，抒发美好愿望，是中国特有的文字形式。

Window flower & ”Fu”: Many people like to use paper cuttings, known as “ window flowers”, to decorate windows. It is a folk art with a long history. Mythological legends, opera stories, flowers, birds, insects and fish can all provide inspiration for a paper cutting. The Chinese character “福” means good luck and fortune. It shows people’s yearning for a happy life. People usually put up a poster with this character on it turned upside down, because the Chinese word “倒”, which means upside down, sounds the same to “到”, or “arrive”.

贴窗花和倒贴“福”字：过年时人们还喜欢在窗户上贴上各种剪纸—窗花。窗花是一门历史悠久的民间艺术，内容包括神话故事、戏剧情节和花鸟鱼虫等。“福”字指福气、福运，寄托了人们对幸福生活的向往。人们通常将“福”字倒过来贴，表示“幸福已到”“福气已到”。

Staying up the whole night: The tradition of staying up the whole night on New Year’s eve had two meanings in ancient times. The old stayed up to bid farewell to the old year, which reminds them to cherish every moment of time. While for the young, staying up was an act to show they wish their parents a long life. In modern times, people stay up the whole night to ward off disease and disasters and to wish for good luck in the New Year.

守岁：古时守岁有两种含义，年长者守岁为“辞旧岁”，有珍爱光明的意思；年轻人守岁，是为延长父母寿命。现在人们通宵守岁，则是希望光明把一切邪瘟病疫驱走，来年吉祥如意。

Firecrackers: Firecrackers date back over 2,000 years. The cracking sounds they make are perfect for creating a joyous atmosphere, and thus exploding firecrackers has become an important of celebrations. They are also thought to bring happiness and good luck.

爆竹：其起源很早，至今已有两千多年的历史。爆竹可以创造出喜庆热闹的气氛，是节日的一种重要娱乐活动，可以给人们带来欢愉和吉利。

New Year picture: The New Year picture is an age-old folk art. The pictures, which are often brightly colored, bring good fortune and happiness to thousands of families. The custom originated from the "door god" that is believed to guard the doors to homes. The most important places in which New Year pictures are made are Taohuawu of Suzhou, Yangliuqing of Tianjin and Weifang of Shandong.