Chinese Spring Festival

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".

What is 年(nián)?

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

拜年(bài nián) - the most popular Chinese New Year activity

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 long time ago. It is a way of showing respect and friendship.

How do Chinese people 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 扣头(kòu tóu), a Chinese way of showing respect by knocking one’s head on the floor, very gently of course. When the elder have received the greetings from the young, they will give the “lucky money” or 压岁钱(yā suì qián) to the young. 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. Check out the most popular words used for Chinese New Year greetings.