大家新年好，元旦刚刚过去，相信大家开始期待我们的传统节日-春节。那今天就让Queena老师先给大家介绍几个有关春节的传统习俗。
1.History:历史
Chinese Spring Festival, also called Lunar New Year, has more than 4,000 years of history. Being one of the traditional Chinese festivals, it is the grandest and the most important festival for Chinese people. It is also the time for the whole families to get together, which is similar with Christmas Day to the westerners. Originating during the Shang Dynasty (about 17th - 11th century BC), Spring Festival, which celebrates family reunion, is full of rich and colorful activities, and hopes with the advent of spring and flowers blossoming. People from different regions and different ethnic groups celebrate it in their unique ways.
中国春节又名农历新年，已有四千多年历史。作为传统中国节日之一，春节是中国人最盛大、最重要的节日。春节与西方的圣诞节类似，是全家相聚的日子。春节起源于商朝（公元前17至前11世纪），旨在庆祝全家团圆，节日期间活动丰富多样，满溢着春暖花开的美好憧憬。不同地区、不同民族的人们以各种独特的方式庆祝春节。
2.Legends:传说
There are many legends about Spring Festival in Chinese culture. In folk culture, it is also called “guonian” (meaning “passing a year”). It is said that the “nian” (year) was a strong monster which was fierce and cruel and ate one kind of animal including human being a day. Human beings were scared about it and had to hide on the evening when the “nian” came out. Later, people found that “nian” was very scared about the red color and fireworks. So after that, people use red color and fireworks or firecrackers to drive away “nian”. As a result, the custom of using red color and setting off fireworks remains.
中国文化中关于春节的传说有很多。在中国民间文化中，春节又被称为“过年”（意为“过了一年”）。据说“年”是一头凶猛残忍的强大的怪兽，每天都会吃一种动物，包括人类。人们都很害怕它，晚上“年”出来活动时，大家都不得不躲起来。后来，人们发现“年”很怕红色和烟花。所以人们从此都用红色和烟 花或鞭炮来驱赶“年”。因此，使用红色和放烟花的习俗就流传了下来。
3.Customs and Practices:习俗和惯例
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.
每家每户都会全面地打扫房子，并采购足够的食物包括鱼、猪肉、炒货、各种糖果等，供节日所用。同时，还要办置新衣，尤其是小孩的新衣。大门两侧贴着写有对联的红色横幅，每个门上都有一副对联。门正央贴着汉字“福”字，窗上装饰着剪纸。
4.Festival Food:节日食物
Food during this happy event has its characteristics, which is the representative of Chinese festival food culture. Dumplings and the reunion dinner are indispensable at this time. Cold and hot dishes are all served. Fish is always an important dish then, which expresses people’s hope of having a wealthy year.
春节的食物有自己的特色，是中国节日食物文化的代表。团圆饭必定离不开饺子，冷盘热菜皆有。鱼一直是一道重要的菜，体现了人们希望来年有余的愿望。
有关春节的习俗说不尽，道不完，大家可以拿出来共同分享。