春节介绍
对中国人来说，春节是最重要的节日，春节是家里所有的成员相聚的时刻，就像西方的圣诞节一样。所有远离家乡的人都会回来，因此春运交通系统最繁忙的时刻大约持续半个月。机场，火车站和长途汽车站挤满了回家的人们。
The Spring Festival is the most important festival for the Chinese people and is when all family members get together, just like Christmas in the West. All people living away from home go back, becoming the busiest time for transportation systems of about half a month from the Spring Festival.Airports, railway stations and long-distance bus stations are crowded with home returnees.
春节是阴历的第- -天，通常比阳历晚-一个月。春节起源于商朝(公元前1600-公元前1100年)人们在年末岁初的时候供奉上帝和祖先.
The Spring Festival falls on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month, often one month later than the Gregorian calendar. It originated in the Shang Dynasty (C.1600 BC-c. 1100 BC) from the people's sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.
严格来讲,春节每年于阴历第十二个月的早些时候一- 直持续到下一年的阴历第一个月.在这段期间，最重要的H子就是除夕和正月初一至初三这几天.中国政府现在规定人们在春节休假七天.
Strictly speaking, the Spring Festival starts every year in the early days of the12th lunar month and will last till the mid 1st lunar month of the next year. Of them, the most important days are Spring Festival Eve and the first three days.The Chinese government now stipulates people have seven days off for the Chinese Lunar New Year.
有许多伴随春节的风俗。- .些习俗今天仍然被延续着,而有一些风俗已经渐渐被遗忘了.
Many customs accompany the Spring Festival. Some are still followed today,but others have weakened.
Customs习俗
在阴历腊月初八，许多家庭煮由糯米，小米，薏米，红枣浆果，莲子,豆类,龙眼，银杏组成的美味八宝粥。
On the 8th day of the 12th lunar month, many families make laba porridge, a delicious kind of porridge made with glutinous rice, millet, seeds of Job's tears, jujube berries, lotus seeds, beans, longan and gingko.
腊月二十三被称作小年。在这一-天，人们会祭拜灶神.然而现在，许多家庭会做可口的饭菜自个享受.
The 23rd day of the 12th lunar month is called Preliminary Eve. At this time,people offer sacrifice to the kitchen god. Now however, most families make delicious food to enjoy themselves.
小年以后，人们开始准备即将到来春节的年货，翘首迎新年.
After the Preliminary Eve, people begin preparing for the coming New Year.This is called "Seeing the New Year in".
房屋打扫House Cleaning
春节打扫房屋这个非常古老的习俗甚至可以追溯到几千年前。灰尘在传统上与“旧”联系在一起，所以打扫房屋和扫除灰尘意味着辞“旧”迎“新".春节的前几天,中国的各家各户都打扫房屋,扫地，清洗日用品，清除蛛网和疏浚沟渠.人们兴高采烈做所有这些事情，希望来年好运。
To clean houses on the New Year Even is a very old custom dating back to thousands of years ago. The dust is traditionally associated with“old” so cleaning their houses and sweeping the dust mean to bid farewell to the“ old" and usher in the“new" . Days before the New Year, Chinese families clean their houses, sweeping the floor, washing daily things, cleaning the spiderwebs and dredging the ditches. People do all these things happily in the hope of a good coming year.
房屋装饰House decoration
房屋装饰之一就是在门上贴对联.把所有的门板上贴上突出中国书法的红纸黑字春联.春联内容丰富多彩有房主希望锦绣前程和期盼来年好运。为了避开恶鬼在前门上也会贴上门神和财神来欢迎和平与富足.在春联上，抒发良好的祝愿.春联通常是成对张贴，因为双数在中国文化中是好运气和吉祥的象征.
One of the house decorations is to post couplets on doors. All the door panels will be pasted with Spring Festival couplets, highlighting Chinese calligraphy with black characters on red paper. The content varies from house owners' wishes for a bright future to good luck for the New Year. Also, pictures of the god of doors and wealth will be posted on front doors to ward off evil spirits and welcome peace and abundance.On the Spring Festival couplets, good wishes are expressed. New Year couplets are usually posted in pairs as even numbers are associated with good luck and auspiciousness in Chinese culture.
意味着祝福和快乐的福字不可缺少。福字可以正着糊也可以倒着粘贴，因为在汉语中，‘倒福’和‘福到’是同音的，发的音都是‘福到了’。 尤其是，房子前门口的两边可以吊两个大红灯笼.在窗户玻璃上可以看到红色剪花和在墙上可以挂具有吉祥含义的颜色鲜艳的年画.
The Chinese character "fu" (meaning blessing or happiness) is a must. The character put on paper can be pasted normally or upside down, for in Chinese the "reversed fu" is homophonic with "fu comes", both being pronounced as"fu dao le." What's more, two big red lanterns can be raised on both sides of the front door. Red paper-cuttings can be seen on window glass and brightly colored New Y ear paintings with auspicious meanings may be put on the wall.
等待春や的第- -声仲鳴 Waiting for the First Bell Ringing of Chinese New Year第一次钟声是春节的象征.中国人喜欢到- -个大广场,那里有为除夕设置的大钟.随着春节的临近,他们开始倒计数并-起庆祝。人们相信了大钟的撞响可以驱除霉运，带来好运。
The first bell ringing is the symbol of Chinese New Year. Chinese people like to go to a large squares where there are huge bells are set up on New Year' s Eve. As the New Year approaches they count down and celebrate together.The people believe that the ringing of huge bell can drive all the bad luck away and bring the fortune to them.
春节是与家人团聚的时间.在除夕这一天, 所有的家庭成员会-起吃团圆饭. 团圆饭会比以前更加丰盛.鸡，鱼和豆腐饭菜必不可少的，因为在汉语中它们的发音分别是"j", "yu" and "doufu,"意味着幸运，丰富和富裕.除夕宴会上吃的食物。
根据不同的地区各不相同。在中国南方，习惯吃“年糕”(糯米粉制成的新年糕点)，因为作为-一个同音字年糕意味着“步步高升”。在北方，年夜饭的传统饭。
在-起聊天和看电视.近几年来,对在国内和国外的中国人来说，收看中央电视台举办的春节联欢晚会是- -项必要的娱乐活动.
Spring Festival is a time for family reunion. At that time, all family members eat dinner together. The meal is more luxurious than usual. Dishes such as chicken, fish and bean curd cannot be excluded, for in Chinese, their pronunciations, respectively "ji", "yu" and "doufu," mean auspiciousness,abundance and richness. The food eaten on the New Year Even banquetvaries according to regions. In south China, It is customary to eat 'niangao'(New Year cake made of glutinous rice flour) because as a homophone,niangao means 'higher and higher every year'. In the north, a traditional dishfor the feast is 'Jiaozi' or dumplings shaped like a crescent moon. After the dinner, the whole family will sit together, chatting and watching TV. In recent years, the Spring Festival party broadcast on China Central Television Station(CCTV) is essential entertainment for the Chinese both at home and abroad.
守岁意味着除夕夜不睡觉。年夜饭后，家人聚坐- -起,愉快聊天，等待春节的到来.
Shousui means to stay up late or all night on New Year's Eve. After the great dinner, families sit together and chat happily to wait for the New Year' s arrival.
燃放鞭炮Setting Firecrackers
放鞭炮曾是春节庆祝活动中最重要的习俗之- -.然而，担心燃放鞭炮可能会带来危险和烦人的噪音,政府已在许多大城市下令禁止燃放鞭炮.但在小城镇和农村地区的人们仍然坚持这种传统的庆祝活动。除夕夜- -旦时钟撞响午夜12点钟,城市和乡镇都被烟花的闪闪光芒映亮，鞭炮声震耳欲聋。- -家人熬夜就为这个欢乐的时刻，孩子们一~手拿鞭炮，一手拿火机兴高采烈地点放着他们在这个特殊节日的快乐，尽管他们吓得捂着耳朵。
Lighting Firecrackers used to be one of the most important customs in the Spring Festival celebration. However, concerning the danger and the negative noises that lighting firecrackers may bring, the government has banned this practice in many major cities. But people in small towns and rural areas still hold to this traditional celebration. Right as the clock strike 12 o'clock midnight of New Year's Eve, cities and towns are lit up with the glitter from fireworks, and the sound can be deafening. Families stay up for this joyful moment and kids with firecrackers in one hand and a lighter in another cheerully light their happiness in this especial occasion, even though they plug their ears.
春节的问候(拜年)New Year Greetings(Bai Nian)
在春节第一-天或此后不久,大家都穿着新衣服,带着弓向亲戚和朋友打招呼并恭喜(祝贺)，彼此祝愿在新的- -年里好运，幸福.在中国农村，有些村民可能有数以百计的亲戚，所以他们不得不拿出两个多星期来走亲访友.
On the first day of the New Year or shortly thereafter, everybody wears new clothes and greets relatives and friends with bows and Gongxi(congratulations)，wishing each other good luck, happiness during the new year. In Chinese vllages, some villagers may have hundreds of relatives sothey have to spend more than two weeks visiting their relatives.
压岁钱Gift Money
这是孩子们的父母和祖父母给他们作为春节礼物的钱。压岁钱据说能带来好运,能驱魔;因此，就有了“压岁钱”的称呼。父母和祖父母先把钱放人特制的小红包里，年夜饭后或当孩子们来拜年时,将红包发给他们。他们之所以要把钱放到红包里，是因为中国人认为红色是个幸运色.他们想给自己孩子既有压岁钱还有幸运色。
It is the money given to kids from their parents and grandparents as New Year gift. The money is believed to bring good luck, ward off monsters; hence the name 'lucky money'.
Parents and grandparents first put money in small, especially-made red envelopes and give the red envelopes to their kids after the New Year's Feastor when they come to visit them on the New Year. They choose to put the money in red envelopes because Chinese people think red is a lucky color.They want to give their children both lucky gift money and lucky color.
不仅每-一个家庭，而且街道上和小巷里都弥漫着春节喜庆热闹的氛围. - -系列的庆祝活动例如舞狮，灯节和庙会将会持续几天.当灯展进人尾声的时候，春节也就结束了。
The lively atmosphere not only fills every household, but permeates to streets and lanes. A series of activities such as lion dancing, dragon lantern dancing,lantern festivals and temple fairs will be held for days. The Spring Festival then comes to an end when the Lantern Festival is finished. 
常用英文
过年 Guo-nian; have the Spring Festival
对联Poetic couplet: Two successive rhyming lines in poetry
春联 Spring Festival couplets
剪纸 Paper-cuts
年画 New Year paintings
买年货 Special purchases for the Spring Festival ; do Spring Festival shopping
敬酒Propose a toast
灯笼 Lantern: a portable light
灯会 Exhibit of lanterns
守岁Staying-up
拜年Pay New Year's call; give New Year's greetings; New Year's visit
禁忌Taboo
去晦气Get rid of the ill- fortune
祭祖宗Offer sacrifices to one's ancestors
压岁钱 Gift money; money given to children as a lunar New Year gift
辞旧岁 Bid farewell to the old year
扫房Spring cleaning; general house-cleaning
八宝饭 Eight treasures rice pudding
糖果盘 Candy tray
什锦糖 Assorted candies - sweet and fortune
西瓜子 Red melon seed - joy, happiness, truth and sincerity
金桔Cumquat - prosperity
红枣Red dates - prosperity
花生糖Peanut candy - sweet
恭贺新禧I Happy New Year
吉祥如意 I Everything Goes Well
恭喜发财I Wishing You Prosperity
年年有余 I Surplus Year after Year
岁岁平安I Peace All Year Round
新春大吉 I Good Luck in the New Year