双语阅读｜Chinese Spring Festival 新春佳节的那些传统习俗

Chinese Spring Festival, known as 春节（chūn jié ） in China, is the most important festival to the Chinese. Most often, however, Chinese people prefer to call it 年 （the year）. And the action "to have the Spring Festival" is called 过年(ɡuò nián), in which 过 has the meaning of "to pass".

在中国春节是中国人最重要的节日。但是，大多数情况下，中国人更喜欢将其称为过年，其中过具有“通过”的含义。

What is 年(nián)? 什么是年？

The Chinese character 年 comes from an ancient Chinese story. It is said that 年 is a very frightening monster, with longhorn and tusks. It would appear on the 30th of the twelfth month of the lunar year, which is nowadays the day of Chinese New Year Eve.

年字源于一个古老的中国故事。据说年是一个非常可怕的怪物，有长角和长牙。它会出现在农历十二月三十日，即今天的除夕之日。

The monster 年 would do anything bad, stealing things, eating people, etc. So, people would hide in their houses on that day and would not come out until the next morning. People would set firecrackers on Chinese New Year Eve, hoping to scare away the monster. Even though the story is not real, people still carry on the tradition till today.

年会做任何坏事，偷东西，吃人等等。所以，那天人们会躲在自己的房子里，直到第二天早上才出来。人们会在除夕夜放鞭炮，以期吓跑这种怪物。即使故事不是真实的，人们仍将传统沿袭至今。

拜年(bài nián) - the most popular Chinese New Year activity-最受欢迎的农历新年活动

The character 拜 literally means "to make a courteous bow" and 拜年 has the meaning of “exchanging Chinese New Year greetings”. 拜年， being one of the most important activities during the Chinese New Year, is a very traditional custom that has been carried on since a long time ago. It is a way of showing respect and friendship.

“拜”这个字面意思是“鞠躬致敬”，拜年的意思是“互致新年问候”。拜年，是农历新年期间最重要的活动之一，是一种很传统的习俗，距今已有很长的历史。这是表达尊重和友谊的一种方式。

How do Chinese people 中国人怎么拜年？

Chinese New Year greetings usually begin at home. On the first day of the New Year in Chinese lunar calendar, the young should first greet the elder by making bows or 叩头(kòu tóu), a Chinese way of showing respect by knocking one’s head on the floor, very gently of course.

农历新年问候通常在家里开始。在农历新年的第一天，年轻人应该首先鞠躬或扣头来问候老人，叩头是一种通过轻轻地将头撞在地板上来表示尊重的方式。

When the elder has received the greetings from the young, they will give the “lucky money” or 压岁钱(yā suì qián) to the young.

当长者收到年轻人的问候时，他们会把压岁钱给年轻人。

This is one of the reasons why kids like Chinese New Year very much because they can get the “lucky money”! It is not a small sum of money the kids can get during the Chinese New Year, because most Chinese families are big ones, with many members. After exchanging Chinese New Year greetings at home, the whole family will visit their relatives, neighbors, and friends.

这就是为什么孩子们非常喜欢农历新年的原因之一，因为他们可以获得“压岁钱”！孩子们在春节期间可以得到不少的钱，因为大多数中国家庭是大家庭，有很多成员。在家里互致新年问候后，全家人将会去其亲戚，邻居和朋友家串门。

祝大家鼠年吉祥，2020年成为非你莫鼠的人，遇到心有所鼠的人，每天乐不思鼠，挣钱鼠不胜鼠