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Extensive Reading 泛 读

Lesson 7
Zài zhōng guó guò chūn jié
Chūn jié shì zhong guó nóng xīn nián de kāi shǐ . Nóng
xin nián tōng cháng gōng xīn nián wǎn yuè . Chūn
jié duì zhōng guó rén lái shuō jiù tóng shèng dàn jié duì
西
fāng rén yàng zhòng yào . Àn zhào zhōng guó de chuán tǒng ,
chūn jié de zhǔn bèi qìng zhù huó dòng shǐ shàng nián
zuì hòu yuè de kāi shǐ , bìng qiě zhí yán
dào nóng zhēng yuè shí . Shì shí shàng , yóu shēng
huó jié zòu de jiā kuài , xiàn zài hěn shǎo yǒu rén
yuè de shí jiān dōu huā zài zhè shàng mian . Yīn zhèng
jué dìng nóng xīn nián de zhōu wéi gōng jià .
Qìng zhù chūn jié de chuán tǒng fāng shì yǒu hěn duō , jǐn guǎn
yǒu xiē jīng suí zhe shí jiān de tuī ér xiāo shī le .
Zhǔ yào de chuán tǒng huó dòng yǒu : qīng sǎo fáng jiān , gòu
:
zhì nián huò , tiē nián huà duì lián , fàng biān pào ,
guàng miào huì děng . Chú zhī , quán jiā rén zài
chī nián fàn . Zài zhōng guó běi fāng , rén men
tōng cháng chī jiǎo zi , ér zài zhōng guó nán fāng , rén men
tōng cháng chī nián gāo .
Zhōng guó de duō shǎo shù mín hàn rén
guò chūn jié , dàn yǒu xiē shǎo shù mín yǒu
de chuán tǒng xīn nián .
Celebrating Spring Festival in China

Spring Festival marks the beginning of the Chinese New Year on the Chinese lunar calendar. The first day of the festival usually falls about one month after the Solar New Year on the Gregorian calendar. According to Chinese tradition, preparations for the festival start from the end of the last lunar month of the previous year. Festival celebrations extend until the Lantern Festival on the 15th of the first lunar month of the New Year. However, a fast-paced and hectic lifestyle makes it difficult for many Chinese to spend an entire month celebrating the festival. This is why the central government decided to declare the first week of the festival a public holiday.

Spring Festival traditions abound, although not all are practiced today. These include home spring cleaning, shopping for festival goodies, decorating homes with New Year Pictures and Spring Festival couplets, lighting firecrackers, and strolling around temple fairs. On New Year's Eve, family members gather together to have a family feast. In northern China, jiaozi or dumplings (with meat and vegetable stuffing) are the delicacy of choice, while people in southern China prefer niangao (New Year cake).

Many of China's ethnic minorities celebrate their Lunar New Year around the same time as the Han people, although some maintain their own calendars.