It is the first day of the lunar New Year. And It's the most solemn and characteristic traditional chinese folk festival. The main folk activities are 「Open the door firecrackers「,「New Year's visit」,「staying-up」,「new year lucky money」,「having a family reunion dinner」 and so on.
(正月初一是農曆新年中的第一天,它是我國民間最隆重、最具特色的傳統節日。主要的民俗活動有「拜年」、「守歲」、「開門炮仗」,「給壓歲錢」、「吃團圓飯」……)
1. Open the door firecrackers (開門炮仗)
On the first morning of Spring Festival, the first thing people do after opening the door is to set off firecrackers. After the sound of firecrackers, broken firecrackers are everywhere. The streets are now full of good fortune and happiness.
(在春節的第一天早晨,人們開門後做的第一件事情就是燃放鞭炮。爆竹聲後,碎紅一地。這時滿街好運連連、喜氣洋洋。)
2. New Year's visit (拜年)
An important activity during the Spring Festival is to go to relatives, friends and neighbors to congratulate them on the New Year. It is called "giving new year's greetings" in the past. Paying New Year call is a traditional Chinese folk custom, which is a way for people to bid farewell to the old and usher in the new.
(春節裡的一項重要活動是到親朋好友和鄰居那裡祝賀新春。舊時稱「拜年」。拜年是中國民間的傳統習俗,是人們辭舊迎新的一種方式.)
3. New Year's money (壓歲錢)
It is one of the Chinese traditional customs on Spring Festival. Usually the elders give money to the children, and some adults also give money to the elders as a lunar New Year gift to express their best wishes in the new year.
(發壓歲錢是中國春節的傳統之一。通常小孩子都會收到長輩給的壓歲錢作為禮物,有的成年晚輩也會給較年長的長輩壓歲錢,以此來表達自己最美好的祝福。)
4. having a family reunion dinner (吃團圓飯)
It is really a good tradition to have the reunion dinner with their family at the beginning of New Year. We are so happy to enjoy a table of delicious food. Sometimes we also eat dumplings (Jiaozi) or New Year cakes ( Niangao). They have special meanings. For example, as a homophone, niangao means 「higher and higher one year after another」.
(在大年初一和家人一起吃團圓飯是一個很好的傳統。我們很高興能享受一桌美味的食物。有時我們也吃餃子或年糕。它們有特殊的含義。例如,作為一個同音字,年糕的意思是「一年比一年高」。)