中国节日英语简介

元旦New Year

It falls on the first day of the year. It marks the beginning of a year. People will plan what to do in the New Year. Because they believe that the whole year's work depends on a good start in spring.

春节Spring Festival

Spring Festival is the most important festival in China. It is on the first day of the first lunar month(阴历正月). On the eve of the festival, people will paste spring poems(贴春联)with lucky words. They prepare delicious food, dumpling is a must. They also clean their house, but there is no sweeping on spring festival for people think it will sweep away good luck. People often come back home to enjoy family reunion, the whole family will get together for the big dinner. They also exchange greeting with other friends and relatives.

元宵Lantern Festival

It comes on the 15th of the first lunar month and it marks the end of the Spring Festival. On this day, people often eat sweet dumplings(元宵)for good luck. They will visit the display of lanterns(灯展)or go for temple fair(庙会)

清明Qingming

Qingming —It is also called Tomb-Sweeping Day. It falls on April 4th or 5th. That is a special day for the living to show love and

respect to their dead friends or relatives. People often go to sweep the tomb and put the meat, wine in front of the tomb. One interesting thing is that people burn the paper money for the dead. 端午Dragon Boat Festival

This day is on the fifth of the fifth lunar month, People often get together to watch the wonderful “Dragon Boat Race”(龙舟大赛)，Rice dumpling is a must on Dragon Boat Festival.

中秋Mid-autumn Day

It comes on the 15th of the eighth lunar month. People often gaze at the “Lady in the moon”(嫦娥) and eat moon cakes.

腊月二十三——小年

December 23 of the Lunar Calendar (Little New Year) Custom: Worshiping the Kitchen God

As the legend goes, there is a kitchen god in each house who is responsible for the kitchen and oversees the conduct of the family. On this day, the kitchen god returns to Heaven to report the conducts of the family to the Emperor of Heaven. Therefore, worshipping the kitchen god aims to “please him.” People put out some sweet and sticky foods, such as rice dumplings and malted sugar. In this way, the lips of the kitchen god will stuck together, and he cannot report any wrong doings of the

family. Thus the family can lead an auspicious life.习俗：祭灶民俗传说中，每家都有一位灶神掌管饮食，也记录一家人的言行。今天，灶神就要返回天庭汇报这一户人一年的大小事，所以祭灶的主题就是“拉拢灶神”。在厨房内摆放些甜而粘牙的如汤圆、麦芽糖等食物，灶神的嘴被粘住，就少汇报些坏事，才能天降吉祥。

腊月二十四December 24 of the Lunar Calendar Custom: Dusting After worshipping the kitchen god, people begin to thoroughly clean their houses to sweep away bad luck and welcome good luck. Dusting shows the good wish of putting away old things and welcoming a new life, making everything look fresh in the new year.习俗：扫尘祭灶后，人们便开始大扫除，扫尘除灾，以迎祥纳福。扫尘也是辞旧迎新，求的是万象更新的新年新气象。

腊月二十五December 25 of the Lunar Calendar Custom: Pasting Window Paper and Making Tofu

The times for pasting window paper are gone. Nowadays, the tradition is replaced by cleaning windows. Tofu is homophonic with “Toufu (first fortune of the year)”, so it is considered as a good food which brings happiness. In order to prepare it for the Spring Festival, people should begin to grind beans and make tofu today.习俗：糊窗户、磨豆腐纸糊窗户的时代已经过去，所以如今这习俗已经被擦玻璃取代。而豆腐音同“头福”，被视为能够为新年带来福气的好食材，要为过年做准备，今天就要开始磨豆自制豆腐了。