1.
Introduction
New Year in China is completely
different and unique from any of the
New Year celebrations made in any
part of the world. In China, New Year
is also called as The Spring Festival
because 'Start of Spring' is the first of
the terms in the traditional solar
calendar .The date for Chinese New
Year changes each year. It always
falls between January 21 and
February 20, determined by the
Chinese lunar calendar.

2.
The Origin of Chinese New Year
There are several versions for the origin of
Chinese New Year. The most widely heard
one is that there was a mythical beast called
"Nian" which means "year" in Chinese.
Nian always came on the first day of New
Year to prey on livestock, crops, and even
people. They came to know that beast gets
afraid of the red color and loud noises.
Since then, they started burning firecrackers
and using red color in order to keep the
giant beast scared. Also, they hung red
lanterns and red spring couplets on doors
and windows. From then on, Nian never
came back again.

3.
Traditions
A few days before the Chinese New Year, people will do a complete cleaning of the
house and house wares which signifies to remove the old and welcome the new. It is
also associated with a legend that on the eve of the holiday gods bestow every house
luck for the whole year, which is deposited in the form of dust in the eve and during the
celebration of this event.
House Cleaning

4.
After the cleaning, people will decorate the
house to welcome the New Year. Most of
the decorations are red in color,because it
is associated with wealth. Red lanterns are
hung on the streets, while windows and
doors are decorated with posters and
papers bearing favorable characters or
phrases. Oddly enough, one of the main
symbols of New year in China is
Mandarin. They are a symbol of good luck
and fortune. Fruit in vases, it is customary
to place them around the house. Instead of
a Christmas tree in China is decorated with
flowers, garlands and lanterns of the so-
called Wood's Light
Decoration
Traditions

5.
Traditions
From the 1st day of New Year to the 15th day, streets
and homes are filled with dragon and lion dances.
They are formed by a group of people, some of whom
manage the "dragon" and the "lion", while some beat
the drums. It is believed that the loud noise created by
the drums, along with the faces of the dragon and lion
scare away evil spirits.
Lion and Dragon Dances

6.
Traditions
Symbolic Cuisines
On Chinese New Year's Eve, members of the family, big or small, near or far away, gather for a
"reunion dinner". The most common dishes for this dinner are chicken and fish. The tradition of
eating fish during the New Year stems from the fact that the Chinese word for “surplus” or
“profit” sounds similar to the word for fish. Thus, it is believed that eating fish will bring wealth
in the new year.
In the North of China on New year eat dumplings (Jiaozuo),
and in the South — slices prepared from glutinous rice
(niangao).

7.
Traditions
Gifts
Usually, adults or older people give red
envelopes with any amount of money to the
juniors. On the cover of the red envelopes,
there are usually icons of what the year belongs
to or some common greetings like Happy New
Year ,wish everything goes well for you. In
ancient times, new year's money was presented
in the form of one hundred copper coins strung
together and symbolizing the hope of life to a
hundred years.
There is another tradition during the New year
celebrations coming to visit, to give the hosts
two clementines, and leaving to them two other
Mandarin. ( in Chinese "a pair of Mandarin"
consonant with the word "gold")

8.
Traditions
Firecrackers and Fireworks
New Year festivities just wouldn’t be the
same without pyrotechnics. Traditionally, it
is believed that the loud noise of the
firecrackers serves to scare away evil
spirits .In addition, most major cities,
including Hong Kong and Shanghai, will
put up an impressive display of fireworks
around midnight to welcome in the new
year.