1春节在中国地位.doc

1春节在中国的地位， 2春节持续的时间， 3春节来临之前人们的准备活动， 4人们如何度过除夕夜， 5春节期间人们的活动 The Spring Festival The Spring Festival, also know as the lunar New Year, is the greatest traditional festival. It is usually a time between late January or early February, which means rest and relaxation between winter and spring after a years toil, and means celebration as well. Before the Spring Festival, people clean their house, put red coupletson their gates, and set off firecrackers, according to fairy tale, for driving a demon, named Nian away. On the eve of the Spring Festival, a get-together banquet is a must, and the most popular food is Dumpling, which is supposed to bring good fortune. On the first day of the new year, everybody wears new clothes and greets relatives and friends with bows and congratulations wishing each other lucky during the new year. Spring Festival The New Moon on the first day of the new year-- the full moon 15 days later Click here for more words about the Spring Festival Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon（新月）on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon（满月）15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival（元宵节）, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade. The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle（月运周期）is about 29.5 days. In order to catch up with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year （闰年）. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year. New Years Eve and New Years Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth（万物）, the gods of the household and the family ancestors. The sacrifice to the ancestors, the m