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TheLunarChineseNewYearChineseNewYearisthemostimportanttraditionalChineseholiday.InChina,itisalsoknownastheSpringFestival.NewYearcelebrationsrunfromChineseNewYear’sEve,thelastdayofthelastmonthofthelunarcalendar,totheLanternFestivalonthe15thdayofthefirstmonth.TheoriginoftheLunarNewYearFestivalcanbetracedbackthousandsofyears,involvingaseriesofcolorfullegendsandtraditions.OneofthemostfamouslegendsisNian,anextremelycruelbeastthattheancientsbelievedwoulddevourpeopleonNewYear'sEve.TokeepNianaway,red-papercoupletsarepastedondoors,torchesarelit,andfirecrackersaresetoffthroughoutthenight,becauseNianissaidtofearthecolorred,thelightoffire,andloudnoises.Totheancienttimesperiod,thereisakindoffiercemonstercalled“year”.Itsfaciallookisferocious,thebornnatureisbloodthirsty,eatingthebirdsandbeasts,thefishandshellfishinsectwithoutfeetparticularly.SweepingtheDust(扫尘)PastingSpringCouplets(贴春联)PastingNewYearPrints(贴年画)HavingJiaozi(吃饺子)SettingoffFirecrackers(放鞭炮)NewYear‘sVisitandGiftMoney(拜年和压岁钱)“Dust”ishomophonicwith“chen”（尘）inChinese,whichmeansoldandpast.Inthisway,“sweepingthedust”beforetheSpringFestivalmeansathoroughcleaningofhousestosweepawaybadluckinthepastyear.Thiscustomshowsagoodwishofputtingawayoldthingstowelcomeanewlife.Inaword,justbeforetheSpringFestivalcomes,everyhouseholdwillgiveathoroughcleaningtobidfarewelltotheoldyearandusherinthenew.TheSpringCouplet”,alsocalled“couplet”and“apairofantitheticalphrases”.OntheeveoftheSpringFestival,everyhouseholdwillpasteondoorsaspringcoupletwrittenonredpapertogiveahappyandprosperousatmosphereoftheFestival.Inthepast,theChineseusuallywrotetheirownspringcoupletwithabrushoraskedotherstodoforthem,whilenowadays,itiscommonforpeopletobuytheprintedspringcoupletinthemarket.ThecustomofpastingNewYearPrintsoriginatedfromthetraditionofplacingDoorGodsontheexternaldoorsofhouses.Withthecreationofboardcarvings,NewYearpaintingscoverawiderangeofsubjects.ThemostfamousonesareDoorGods,SurplusYearafterYearThreeGodsofBlessing,SalaryandLongevity,AnAbundantHarvestofCrops,ThrivingDomesticAnimalsandCelebratingSpring.FourproducingareasofNewYearPrintareTɑohuɑwuofSuzhou,YɑngliuqingofTianjin,WuqiɑngofHebeiandWeifangofShangdong.NowthetraditionofpastingNewYearpaintingsisstillkeptinruralChina,whileitisseldomfollowedincities.OnNewYear’sEve,thewholefamilywillsittogethertomakejiaoziandcelebratetheSpringFestival.Theshapeofjiaoziislikegoldingot（金元宝）fromancientChina.Sopeopleeatthemandwishformoneyandtreasure.YoucannothaveacompleteSpringFestivalwithouthavingjiaozi.ThefirecrackerisauniqueproductinChina.InancientChina,thesoundofburningbambootubeswasusedtoscareawaywildanimalsandevilspirits.Withtheinventionofthegunpowder,“firecracker”isalsocalled“鞭炮biānpào”(“炮”inChinesemeansgun)andusedtofosterajoyfulatmosphere.ThefirstthingeveryChinesehouseholddoesistosetofffirecrackersandfireworks,whicharemeanttobidfarewelltotheoldyearandusherinthenew.OnthefirstdayoftheChineselunaryear,everybodyputsontheirbestclothesandpaysceremonialcallsontheirrelativesandfriends,wishingthemalltheluckinthecomingyear.Juniorswillgreetseniors,wishingthemhealthandlongevity,whileseniorswillgivejuniorssomegiftmoneyasawishfortheirsafetyinthecomingyear..逛庙会TempleFairTemplefair,usuallyheldoutsidetemples,isakindoffolkcustominChina.DuringtheSpringFestival,templefairisoneofthemostimportantactivities,inwhichtherearesuchperformancesasacrobaticsandWushu,numerouskindsoflocalsnacksandmanykindsofthingsforeverydaylife.Inrecentyears,thetemplefairhasbecomeaplaceforpeopletoappreciatethetraditionalartandexperiencethetraditionallife.dragondanceliondanceMadebywangxu