There is about half a month left before Chinese Spring Festival. Like the Christmas in the Western, Spring Festival is the most important festival in China. All of the people in China will go their home and have a reunion with their families. Reunion is the most important thing for Festival. No matter the distance they live, they will try to go home in that day.
Chuxi (New Year’s Eve) is the last evening of the twelfth lunar month. In Chinese, Chu literally means remove or change, and Xi means night. Thus Chuxi implies that the old year ends at this night, and the new one begins tomorrow.The reunion dinner, sacrificing to the ancestors, watching Spring Festival Party on CCTV , and staying up till 12 o’clock, are the major activity in Chuxi.
After the dinner, the whole family sit together, chatting and watching TV, and stay stay up late till the morning to guard the year. The houses are lit up brightly with lamps both outside and inside of the house.
On each New Year’s Eve, each family also sticks on their doors spring couplets and blow up firecrackers. Early in the morning of the 1st of the first lunar month they go to their relatives and friends’ to send their regards and congratulations.
The fireworks and the red color serve in order to drive away the year’s monster nian (in Chinese: year), for which according to a legend the Chinese once had immense fear and did conceal themselves in their flats in the evening until they found out, that the monster would come only one time during the year and that it feared noise and red color.
At the New Year’s Day during the morning, the Jiaozi, which were prepared in the evening before, are traditionally cooked. Afterwards, the family will gather in order to eat lunch together. However, nowadays, many families prefer going to a restaurant instead of spending New Year’s Day at home.
The Chinese spring festival traditionally ends with the Lantern Feast, which takes place on the 15th day of the New Year. The temples are decorated with lanterns at that day. Families go for a walk with self-made (or bought) lanterns holding in their hands and they eat the famous yuebing (moon cake), since there is a full moon at that day.
