it is not goodbye

中国新年（春节）专题theIntroductiontoChineNewYear

ImportantDaysForChineNewYear

,itisaperiodthatstretches

remoniesandactivitiesareobrvedthroughouttheperiod.

datesarein

Chinelunarcalendarwithcorrespondingwesterncalendardatesof2009in

parenthesis.

Dec.8(Jan.3):Drink腊八(la4ba1,Decembercongee.

Dec.23&24(Jan.18&19):Cleanupthehouandndkitchengodtoheaven.

Dec.25(Jan.20):WelcometheEmperorGodcomingtoearth.

Dec.30(Jan.25):NewYear’ve,贴对联(tie1dui4lian2,putongateposts),放鞭

炮(fang4bian1pao4,tofffirecrackers),包饺子(bao1jiao3zi,makedumplings),

守岁(shou3sui4,stayawakeoverthenight),eatalavishdinner.

NewYear(Jan.26):拜年(bai4nian2,sayhappyNewYear)torelativeslived

together.

Jan2(Jan.27):SayHappyNewYeartorelativesandfriendsorprovidesacrificeto

ancestorsandtreasuregod.

Jan5(Jan.30):破五(po4wu3,breakfive),insouthwill

sacrificefortreasuregodattheday.

Jan.15(Feb.9):LanternFestival,

markstheendofcelebrationforthislongholiday.

PreludeofChineNewYear

腊月(la4yue4,December)23inChinelunarcalendarmarksthestartingdayfor

2009AD,ition,thegovernmentsandroyal

familieswillofficiallysacrificeforthekitchengod(祭灶)eregular

idthatthowhorelyonwater

fortheirlife(s),thegovernmentwillnotdoit

anymore,ecan

treason,Dec.23isalsocalled小年(xiao3nian2,

thelittleyear).Correspondingly,theChineNewYeariscalled大年(da4nian2,the

bigyear).

Thekitchengodiscalled灶王爷(zao4wang2ye2,thekingofstoves).Heissaidto

istobeinchargeofthekitchenandtoprotectand

ineshouldbeputontheeastornorthofthekitchen.

Ifforsomereasonashrineisnotpossible,aportraitofthekitchengodeitherby

himlforwithhiswifeshouldbepostedonthewall.

Thevirtualheadofanyhouhold,kitchengods,ZaoWangYeandhiswife.

AttheDecember23oflunarcalendar,theZaoWangYewillleavethefamilyand

storeporthisjobtohisboss,玉皇大帝(yu4huang2

da4di4,theemperorofthegods).Inthereport,hewillmakealistofthedeedofthe

kewhatSantaneedstodobeforetheChristmave,“runningalist,

checkittwice,naughtyornice”.Ofcour,it’snotjustforkidsthistime,butforthe

egodswilldeterminewhethertoblessthefamilywithextra

income,promotion,goodharvestandsoon,orpunishthemwithunexpectedsickness,

lossoffortune,andlikewi.

Ofcour,noonecansaythatheorshedidnotconductanybaddeedinthepastyear.

Therefore,peoplecando?

Bribery,,youcan’heless,youcansacrifice.

Fortunately,sinceZaoWangYeisonlyahouholdgod,

thedustofDec.23,theentirefamilywillcometothekitchen,firstburnsomeincen,

thenprovide糖瓜(tang2gua1,sugarmelon)retwo

,thesugarmelonismadebymaltsugarandisvery

outhofZaoWangYemightbealedbythecandyandcan’topen

isabletoopenthemou,hismouthissosweet

places,peopleevenputsomehoney

heceremony,the

y,thegodwillrito

theheavenalongthesmoke,ridingthepaperhor.

Sugarmelon,alsocalledGuan1Dong1sugarbysomepeople,isudtofeedthe

kitchgod,soafavoriteofkidssincealltheofferswillcomeback

elondoesnotnecessarilytaketheshapeofareal

melon,itcanbeastick,adrum,apyramid,oranyshape

HappyChineNewYear!

Somegreetingwordsyoucanu:

春节好！chun1jie2hao3!HappySpringFestival!

拜年了！bai4nian2le!NewYear’sGreeting!

恭喜发财！gong1xi3fa1cai2!Wishyoumakeafortune!

WhattodoinChineNewYear?

efirstday

oftheyear,firstdayofthespring,udothings

rightattheday,ecommercialfrom

Cha,“Relationshipiverything”.osttimeof

thefirstdayoftheyearshouldbespenttoimprovetherelationshipwithpeople,all

thepeoplearoundyou,includingfamilymembers,relatives,friends,colleagues,

neighbors,peoplewithbusinessrelationships(liketeachers,doctors,lawyers,your

clients,etc.),,italsoincludesthepeopleyou

meetonInternet.

InNewYear’sgreeting(拜年,bai4nian2),theruleofthumbisthatyoushouldsay

somethingnice,andwishtheothersidegoodluck,goodhealth,orprosperousin

dsmostcommonlyknownintheworldtodayis“恭喜发财(gong1

xi3fa1cai2,orgungheifatchoiinCantone,meaningwishyoumakeafortune)”.

However,thisisgenerallyrervedforthepeoplewithbusinessrelationorwhoare

relativesandclofriends,thepreferredgreetingissimply拜

年了(bai4nian2le,greetingoftheyear)

Chinetradition,themoneyisoftenconsideredthesourceofallevil,andpeople

oftenareshamedtomentionthenameofitinfrontofclorelativesandfriends.

theyareoftendividedtogroupsandarearrangedtodifferentdaysaccordingtothe

Year’rvedfortherelativesof

socalledreturningto

themother’shome（回娘家，hui2niang2jia).

Atraditionalstylepostershowsafamilyreturningto(thewife’s)mother’shome.

Forbusinesspeople,orsomeonewithahugecircleoffriends,itisimpossibletomeet

enttime,

peoplemayjustputabagonthedoor,youoryourreprentativecansimplyputyour

,thepostofficewillhelpyou

peciallypopularamongpeople

workingforgovernment,methinglikeacocktailparty,but

peoplegetthere,lly,onlyteaandsomelightsnacks(typically

peanutsandsunflowereds)ime,eventheenemieswillsaysome

nicewordstoeachother.

Fortheadults,拜年(NewYear’sgreeting)isthemostimportantthingsincethey

r,italwaysturnstobea

edtodressup,walklongway,andbehave

,mostkidswillberelievedafterthefirsttwodaysorthemostimportant

people(i.e.,grandparentsandclorelatives).Eveninthetwodays,peoplealso

xtragenerouscandiesand

snacks,oneNewYearspecificwayistogive红包(hong2bao1,redenvelope).Inthe

envelope,ionally,thebillsshouldbeinsmall

denominationsincethegoalisnottoreallygivemoney,buttomakethedayhappy

heless,withtheincreadwealthamongChinefamilies,the

envelopeisgettingfatterthedays.

Afterthegreetingsinthemorning,manykidswillbebroughtto庙会(miao4hui4,

templefair).,itisamixture

ofparadeandstreetfairextendsgenerallyfromJan.1toJan.7inChineLunar

emplefairs,peoplecanwatchdragondance,liondanceandmany

,don’

willbetonsofdifferentsnackswaitingforyou.

Dragondance.

Stiltsperformance.

Dryboats.

冰糖葫芦（sugarcoatedfruitskewer)isthestaplesnackofBeijinginwintertime.

CleanUpFortheNewYear

Attheendoftheyear,

ChinelunarcalendarDec.23,beforendingtheZaoWangYe(thekitchengod)to

theheaven,nitureshouldbedusted,the

floorshouldbecleaned,andthejunksaccumulatedoverthepastyearshouldbe

tonlyagoodwayofsayinggoodbyetotheold,butajobtogive

ntakethelastminutephotoswithhim

whenhereportsthefamilyactivitiestothehighergod.

AtDec.26and27,gso,

,noonewillrelateadirtypersonwith

domof“dresstosuccess”isnotonlyvalidinworkplace.

ChineNewYearTravel

Everyyear,kely,itwillbe

nsofcollegestudentsandmigrant

workerswillgobacktothehometownandmillionsgrandparentswillhostfamily

get-togetherateverycity,willbeattheroadandraceforthe

NewYear’heholiday,peoplewillbeonthemoveagaintogo

backtotheirschools,heshearsizeof

populationandtheconcentrationoftraveltime,thetransportationindustrywille

venanamefor

thismigratingofpopulation:春运(chun1yun4,springtransportation,or

transportationattheChineNewYearorSpringFestival).

In2009,theofficial40-dayspringtransportationperiodisfromJan.11toFeb.19.

,almostthree

long

distancetravel,pectedthatthetrains

ingistheGuangzhoutrainstationdays

before2008ChineNewYear.

Indeed,ing

pictureshowsthelineswaitingtobuyticketsataticketboothinTianjin.