Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar and marks the start of a new year and season of planting. Traditions include cleaning houses to sweep away bad luck, decorating with lucky phrases, having large family meals with foods like dumplings and rice pudding, setting off fireworks at midnight wearing red clothes, and children finding money in red envelopes. The festival concludes with the Lantern Festival marked by hanging lanterns and carrying them in the full moonlight.

1. Chinese New Year
31st January 2014

2. Chinese New Year, also known
as the spring festival, is the
most important celebration in
the Chinese calendar.
The spring festival celebrates
the start of new life and the
season of ploughing and
sowing.

3. New Year festivities start
on the first day of the
lunar month and
continue until the
fifteenth, when the moon
is brightest.

4. Chinese New Year is the oldest Chinese
festival and has many traditions.
The first week is celebrated with visits to
friends and family following special traditions
designed to bring good luck.
The second week ends with the Lantern
festival on the evening of the 15th day of the
lunar month
Traditions

5. Before the start of the festivities, Chinese
people spring clean their houses to sweep
away any bad luck.
Houses are decorated with paper
scrolls with good luck phrases
such as 'Happiness' and 'Wealth'.
On New Year's Eve, all brooms,
dustpan and brushes are put away so
that good luck can not be swept away.

6. On New Year's Eve, families gather
together and have a large,
traditional meal.
There are different types of food
depending on which region of China
people come from. in the north, people
eat djiaozi - a steamed dumpling
and in the south nian gao - a sticky,
sweet rice pudding.

7. People will stay up until midnight
setting off fireworks to frighten
away evil spirits. Red symbolises
fire which will scare away evil
spirits, so people dress head to
foot in new red clothing.
On New Year's Day children will
wake up to find a red envelope
filled with money and sweets
under their pillows left by their
parents and grandparents.

8. A dragon dance often takes places with a dragon made of paper, silk and bamboo held aloft by young
men dancing and guiding it around to collect money.

9. Chinese New Year ends with the lantern festival on the fifteenth day of the month. People hang
glowing lanterns at the windows of their houses and carry lanterns under the light of the full
moon.
The lanterns are often
hand painted with
scenes from history or
legend.

10. Chinese symbols and meanings revolve around
good fortune, and positive elements. It is the
Chinese belief that by filling their lives with
lucky objects and images, they increase
prosperity and happy circumstances, making
their existence joyful and fulfilling.
Chinese Symbolism

11. •Chinese Dragons are the ultimate symbols of
cosmic Chi (energy). It is the most popular of
all Chinese symbols.
•The Dragon stands for new beginnings and
good fortune.

12. Gung hei fat choi!
Happy New Year!

13. Now let’s find out what your name
looks like in Chinese,

14. Use this link to translate your (first) name into
Chinese
http://chineseculture.about.com/library/name/blnam
e.htm