Christmas VS Spring Festival 圣诞PK春节

Every nation has its own folk festivals. Those festivals give people a chance to be away from their regular work and everyday worries to enjoy themselves and to develop kindship and friendship. The Spring Festival is the chief holiday in China while Christmas is the most important red letter day in the western world.

The Spring Festival and Christmas have much in common. Both are prepared beforehand to create a joyous atmosphere; both offer a family reunion with a square feast: and both satisfy the children with new clothes, lovely presents and delicious food. However, the Chinese Spring Festival has no religious background while Christmas has something to do with God and there is Santa Claus with white heard to bring children presents.

The westerners send each other Christmas cards for greetings while the Chinese people pay a call on each other.

Nowadays, some of the Chinese youth has begun to celebrate Christmas, following the example of the westerners. Perhaps they do so just for fun and out of curiosity.

Similar to the importance of the Christmas Day for the westerners, the Spring Festival is the most important celebration for Chinese people. Although the meaning and the methods of celebration of the Spring Festival are changing with the time, the important status of the Spring Festival isincomparable.

在中国,春节的重要性相当于西方的圣诞节一样.

Chinese Spring Festival has a long history, which is nearly four thousand years old. Initially, the festival had no name or fixed date However, people called Spring Festival "the age" according to the revolution period of Jupiter by B.C. 2100. Before B.C. 1000, people used "the year", which means "Great Harvest" representing the Spring Festival.

中国的春节有很长的历史.

According to the traditional custom, the Spring Festival lasts from the 23rd day of 12th lunar month to the 15th day of 1st lunar month, and the climax should be the New Year Eve and the first day of first lunar month.

根据传统习俗,春节从腊月23到正月15.高潮部分是大年30和大年初一.

People carry out a lot of activities all over the country to welcome the Spring Festival. In the countryside, this kind of preparation starts from the beginning of 12th lunar month. All the families clean their houses, wash their clothes and bed sheets. Fresh new clothes and sheets commemorate the fresh New Year! Special New Year purchases are also important parts of upcoming New Year. In the city, they celebrate the New Year with art teams performances, various entertainment parties, and the big parks hold "temple fairs" to provide, recreation, food and art!

人们在过春节的时候有很多活动.

There are different traditional customs in different parts of China, but the whole family having reunion(团聚) dinner together in the New Year Eve is indispensable. In the South China, the reunion dinner usually has more than ten meals including bean curd and fish, because the pronunciation of these two meals means "wealthy" in Chinese language. In the North China, most of the reunion meals are dumplings, which are made and eaten by the whole family.

虽然中国各地过过年的习俗不尽相同,但全家新年晚上聚在一起吃团圆饭却是一样的.

Usually stay up late and set off fireworks on New Year"s Eve. By the first day of first lunar month, people are wearing festival dresses and begin to visit or welcome family, friends and loved ones. They greet each other "Happy New Year" and "Happy Spring Festival" and invite guests to drink tea and chat at their home.
新年晚上一般要熬夜还有放鞭炮.大年初一人们会互相拜年.

There are a plethora (过量)of activities during the Spring Festival including opera and movie performances lion dances and temple fairs. There are also people who prefer to stay at home and watch television. Pasting New Year scrolls and watching festive lanterns are also the traditional movements for the Spring Festival celebration.

The ways of Spring Festival celebration are changing along with the standard of living. For instance, traveling has becoming a new fashion of Spring Festival celebration.