Spring Festival...

今天一個米國捧油問我春節是怎麼樣的..

於是勞作了一晚上給他寫了篇來由...

我居然寫了那麼多= =

於是...

貼上來自己得瑟....

Oh, we did translate it into Chinese, but not me. We just use Taiwan's translation...

And for Chinese Spring Festival, it is a long story to say...

You know, people always think that the first day of Jan is New Year's Day, but in China, the New Year's day is on the basis of the lunar calendar. For example, today is Dec. 27, but according to the lunar calendar, today is Oct. 22. That's to say, the New Year's Day is different every year. And the traditional Chinese New Year is always beginning at Dec. 23 according to the lunar calendar. That day, people will buy lots of candy, not the candy as usual. This is a candy with lots of sesame on it. And it has high viscosity. It can stick on your tooth. But why we eat them? There's a story. According to legend, there're two gods live in our kitchen. They are kitchen god and his wife. Every year on Dec. 23, they will go to heavenly palace to pay a formal visit to the Jade Emperor. And report the family’s behavior of the whole year. In order to prevent they bad mouth us, we prepare candy to stick their tooth so they cannot say anything bad.

After this day, we’ll busy to prepare for the New Year’s coming. In Dec. 24, we will clean the whole house, that means to clean the whole dust, also the bad luck of the past year, and welcome the New Year with a new look. In Dec. 25, we will buy some bean curd and fry them. I don’t know exactly why we do this. My grandma said that’s because in the past, the oil is so expensive, so only in New Year’s Day, people will do some fried food to celebrate it. In Dec. 26, we will buy some meat for New Year’s dinner. In Dec. 27, we’ll buy a whole chicken, also for the New Year’s dinner. And my Mom also will buy two or three fishes, it means the whole year of full happiness. In Dec. 28, we will stick couplets, the couplets are red papers and people write their beautiful wishes and hopes on them. But why we stick them on the door? There’s another story. Long time ago, there’s a ferocious monster named Nian (which means the “year”), every New Year, he will come out and go to the villages nearby. He eat people, destroy the house, no bad, no did. People hate him, but have nothing to do. Until one year, a man put a red cloth outside the house by chance. When Nian saw the red cloth, he was so scared that ran away immediately. And people all know that he is afraid of red, so every year, when New Year is coming, every family put a red cloth outside the house. And Nian never come again. As time passes, it becomes today’s couplets. And in the countryside, people also stick door-god on the door to protect the family. So the ghosts can’t get into the house. In Dec. 29, we will prepare some leaven dough and make steamed bread. And in Dec. 30, the whole family will get together; eat dumplings, candies, melon seeds and other delicious food. In the midnight, we will set off firecrackers. Then we chatting, watching the New Year’s special show on TV, till dawn. Then comes the first of Chinese New Year, people (especially the children) will put on their new coat and visit some friends and relatives to wish them happy New Year and give some gifts to them. Children always receive gift money, or lucky money. And the Spring Festival will end at Jan. 15, also according to the lunar calendar. We call that day the lantern Festival. In that day, we eat rice glue ball, it means the whole family will together, forever. And children play Chinese lantern in the night. I remember when I was a kid, my dad always buy me a red lantern, and put a little red candle inside. But today, the lanterns all use the bulb instead. The pleasure of light the candle is also gone. And after this day, the whole Spring Festival end. People will return to work and school begins.
This is how we spend the Spring Festival. But today, many customs have already gone. And many people have to return to their job during the vocation. That’s too pity. Cuz only the traditional Chinese New Year is the really New Year.

So, as I said, our New Year of 2011 will begin at the end of Jan. I will go home and also, I will send you pictures as well… :)