Spring Festival is the most important holiday for Chinese people. Excitement and happiness are palpable this time of the year， and they reach the peak on lunar new year‘s eve.
春節(jié)對(duì)于中國人來說是最重要的節(jié)日。在每年的春節(jié)都讓人興高采烈，尤其是大年三十那晚，更是達(dá)到了高潮。
Though the 15-day period， which starts with the first day of the lunar new year and ends on the 15th day (known as Lantern Festival)， is relatively long， it is the busiest time of the year for Chinese people. The arrangements they have to make for family reunions， buying necessities and preparing food keeps them busy throughout the holiday. Many of them travel back home and meet friends over dinner and drinks. The celebrations include decorating the house and setting off fireworks.
春節(jié)歷時(shí)15天，也就從大年初一開始，到元月十五元宵節(jié)結(jié)束。這段比較長的時(shí)間是中國人最忙的時(shí)候。他們?yōu)榧彝ゾ蹠?huì)作安排，采購年貨，準(zhǔn)備豐盛的食物，以至于整個(gè)春節(jié)假期都忙忙碌碌的。許多人在春季期間都要回老家過年，跟朋友碰碰頭，聚個(gè)餐。慶祝春節(jié)也包括大掃除和放煙火。
But we are talking about a tradition that seems to be fading.
但是我們現(xiàn)在要談的是越來越淡的年味。
Spring Festival， as it is celebrated today， has undergone many changes， thanks to the country‘s economic development and globalization.
現(xiàn)在的春節(jié)已經(jīng)因?yàn)槲覈?jīng)濟(jì)的發(fā)展和全球化的影響而改變了很多。
Yet no Spring Festival is complete without food. People could not get good food whenever they desired in earlier times， something that does not apply to society today. More often than not， people faced the risk of famine. The best time for people to celebrate was when food was available in plenty， and that was possible in spring， or the beginning of the lunar new year. That was the main reason why Spring Festival acquired such great importance among Chinese people.
但是沒有哪個(gè)春節(jié)是完全離得開“吃”的。從前，不論人們提前多久想要買年貨，總是不能如愿，而現(xiàn)在早已今非昔比。過去常常還要鬧饑荒。人們最好的慶祝時(shí)間就是他們能得到食物豐盛的時(shí)候，也就是春天或是元月初的那段時(shí)間。那也是為什么春節(jié)對(duì)于中國人如此重要的主要原因。
But three decades of economic growth has ensured that people in China， except for those who are still poor， can enjoy a good meal whenever they want. Such has been the change in people‘s fortune that some have to be treated for obesity and other health problems associated with excessive eating.
但是三十年來的經(jīng)濟(jì)發(fā)展已經(jīng)讓中國人，除了那些仍然窮苦的人以外，隨時(shí)都能享受美食。這得益于人民財(cái)富的增長，但是后者也導(dǎo)致一些人吃得太多而受到肥胖威脅和健康問題。
In the past， celebrations were limited to events like song-and-dance duets in North China， dragon/lion dances in South China and fireworks， which required the joint efforts of the entire community. But economic development and urbanization seems to have weakened the social links among people. Many， especially those living in cities， are not interested in celebrating the festival with people they hardly know.
在過去，慶祝春節(jié)還只停留在北方的二人轉(zhuǎn)和南方的舞龍舞獅等形式。那些慶祝活動(dòng)往往需要許多人合力才能辦得起來。但是經(jīng)濟(jì)的發(fā)展和國際化程度的提升似乎已經(jīng)將這種社會(huì)聯(lián)系弱化了。許多人，特別是城市居民，不太愿意與不相識(shí)的人一起共度春節(jié)。
Many customs associated with Spring Festival have changed， too. In the past， people used to visit relatives and friends with gifts and lots of good wishes. Today， many people， especially the youth， use their cell phones or the Internet to send their good wishes and even "gifts" to their relatives and friends. Some may say this a sign that people have become less caring about their near and dear ones， but we should see this development as a time- and energy-saving exercise granted by the information age.
與春節(jié)相關(guān)的許多習(xí)俗也被改變了。在過去，人們常常會(huì)帶著禮物走親訪友，互道祝福。今天許多人，特別是年輕人，用手機(jī)或是網(wǎng)絡(luò)向親朋好友發(fā)去“禮物”和祝福。有些人或許會(huì)說，這說明人們已經(jīng)沒有那么關(guān)心至愛親朋了，但是我們應(yīng)該把這種變化看作信息化時(shí)代省錢省力的好辦法。
In recent times， many people have started praying for a career promotion or more money instead of invoking God or the Buddha for a healthy and long life and the welfare of their family. But the number of such people is decreasing now， which shows that people are becoming more reasonable.
最近幾年，許多人開始祈禱事業(yè)高升，財(cái)源滾滾，而不是求神拜佛，他們身體健康，長命百歲，家庭美滿。但是這樣的人數(shù)現(xiàn)在正在減少，說明人們開始變得更加理性。
春節(jié)習(xí)俗英文簡介Customs of the Spring Festival
The Spring Festival is a traditional Chinese festival and also the most important one of the whole year. Through the evolvement of thousands of years， a series of customs are spreading far and wide.
掃塵 Sweeping the Dust
“Dust” is homophonic with "chen”(塵)in Chinese， which means old and past. In this way， "sweeping the dust” before the Spring Festival means a thorough cleaning of houses to sweep away bad luck in the past year. This custom shows a good wish of putting away old things to welcome a new life. In a word， just before the Spring Festival comes， every household will give a thorough cleaning to bid farewell to the old year and usher in the new.
貼春聯(lián) Pasting Spring Couplets
“The Spring Couplet”， also called "couplet” and "a pair of antithetical phrases”， is a special form of literature in China. The Spring Couplet is composed of two antithetical sentences on both sides of the door and a horizontal scroll bearing an inscription， usually an auspicious phrase， above the gate. The sentence pasting on the right side of the door is called the first line of the couplet and the one on the left the second line. On the eve of the Spring Festival， every household will paste on doors a spring couplet written on red paper to give a happy and prosperous atmosphere of the Festival. In the past， the Chinese usually wrote their own spring couplet with a brush or asked others to do for them， while nowadays， it is common for people to buy the printed spring couplet in the market.
貼窗花和“福”字 Pasting Paper-cuts and "Up-sided Fu”
Paper-cuts， usually with auspicious patterns， give a happy and prosperous atmosphere of the Festival and express the good wishes of Chinese people looking forward to a good life. In addition to pasting paper-cuts on windows， it is common for Chinese to paste the character "fu(福)”， big and small， on walls， doors and doorposts around the houses. "Fu(福)” shows people’s yearning toward a good life. Some people even invert the character "fu(福)” to signify that blessing has arrived because "inverted” is a homonym for "arrive” in Chinese. Now many kinds of paper-cuts and "fu(福)” can be seen in the market before the Festival.
守歲 Staying Up Late on New Year‘s Eve
The tradition of staying up late to see New Year in originated from an interesting folk tale. In ancient China there lived a monster named Year， who was very ferocious. Year always went out from its burrow on New Year’s Eve to devour people. Therefore， on every New Year’s Eve， every household would have supper together. After dinner， no one dared go to sleep and all the family members would sit together， chatting and emboldening each other. Gradually the habit of staying up late on New Year’s Eve is formed. Thus in China， "celebrating the Spring Festival” is also called "passing over the year (guo nian)”。 However， now there are less and less people in cities who will stay up late to see New Year in.
貼年畫 Pasting New Year Prints
The custom of pasting New Year Prints originated from the tradition of placing Door Gods on the external doors of houses. With the creation of board carvings， New Year paintings cover a wide range of subjects. The most famous ones are Door Gods， Surplus Year after Year， Three Gods of Blessing， Salary and Longevity， An Abundant Harvest of Crops， Thriving Domestic Animals and Celebrating Spring. Four producing areas of New Year Print are Tɑohuɑwu of Suzhou， Yɑngliuqing of Tianjin， Wuqiɑng of Hebei and Weifang of Shangdong. Now the tradition of pasting New Year paintings is still kept in rural China， while it is seldom followed in cities.