The Chinese Spring Festival, also called Lunar New Year, comes on the ffrst day of Chinese lunar calendar and ends with the Lantern Festival. Being one of the Chinese traditional festivals, it is the grandest and the most important festival for Chinese people.
Legend
It is said that the “Nian” (year) was a strong monster. People use red color and ffreworks or ffrecrackers to drive away “Nian”. As a result, the custom of using red color and setting off ffreworks remains.
Customs and Practices
New clothes must be bought, especially for children. Couplets are pasted at both sides of the gates. The Chinese character “Fu” is pasted on the center of the door and paper-cut pictures adorn windows.
Festival Food
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.