在中国的传统节日中，春节是中国乃至世界华人一年中最重要的一个节日。春节是中国农历的新年，一般从农历的腊月二十三到正月十五都被算做春节，每天都会有不同的庆祝活动。

Among all the Chinese traditional festivals, the Spring Festival is the most important one for Chinese people home and abroad. The Spring Festival falls on the first day of the New Year on the lunar calendar; however, it customarily lasts from the 23rd day of Layue, the twelfth lunar month, to the 15th day of the first lunar month (Zhengyue), with different celebrations for each day.

　   腊月二十三俗称小年。小年最重要的事情就是祭祀灶王爷。灶王爷就是厨房的神，是负责一家人饮食的神。腊月三十，又被称为除夕。这一天，人们要贴上春联，贴上象征吉祥的“福”字，还要吃年夜饭。吃年夜饭时，北方人一定要吃饺子。晚上，孩子们要给长辈磕头拜年，长辈还要给孩子们发压岁钱。从1983年开始，除夕的夜晚，中国人又有了一个新的娱乐项目，就是观看中央电视台举办的春节联欢晚会。从除夕开始，大街小巷就会响起此起彼伏的爆竹声。人们会穿上漂亮的衣服，走出家门，相互拜年。人们还会通过舞龙、舞狮、跑旱船、踩高跷、庙会等活动来庆祝。春节庆祝活动一直会持续到正月十五——元宵节。元宵节也是一个重要的传统节日，这一天，家家户户都会吃元宵或汤圆，意在祝福全家人团圆幸福，在新的一年中诸事圆满。

The 23rd day of Layue is commonly referred to as the “Little New Year”, on which the major custom is to offer sacrifice to the Kitchen God, who is the god in charge of food and diet of every household. The 30th day of Layue, called Chuxi in Chinese, is the Eve of Chinese New Year. On this day, people paste Spring Festival couplets and the auspicious character “福” on their doors and walls in addition to having a big family reunion dinner, on which occasion jiaozi is a must on the tables of northern Chinese people. In the evening, children kowtow to wish their elders a happy new year and the elders shall give children the “lucky money” (referred to as the yasui money). Since 1983, there has been a new entertainment on the evening of Chuxi for Chinese people, namely watching the CCTV Spring Festival Gala on TV. On Chuxi and during the following days, streets and lanes are full of the undulating sounds of firecrackers. People go out in their finest clothes and exchange New Year’s greetings. Celebrations for the festival include the dragon dance, lion dance, land boat dance, stilt walking and visiting temple fairs. These celebrations don’t come to an end until the 15th day of the first lunar month, i.e. the Lantern Festival. The Lantern Festival is another important traditional festival, on which every family eat glutinous rice balls with the wish for reunion and happiness as well as a successful new year.

　   阳历四月五日前后就到了清明节。清明节是中国农历的一个节气，也是最重要的传统祭祀节日。清明节的起源据传始于古代帝王将相的“墓祭”之礼，后来民间亦纷纷仿效，在这一天祭祖扫墓，经过历代沿袭，成为中华民族的一种固定的风俗。除祭祖扫墓之外，民间还有踏青、放风筝、荡秋千等活动。

Qingming Festival occurs around April 5th on the solar calendar. It is a solar term on the Chinese lunar calendar and the most important day to offer sacrifices in China. It is said that Qingming Festival originated from the memorial services held at the tombs of ancient emperors and nobles, which were later followed by ordinary people, who made it a traditional custom to sweep the tombs of and offer sacrifices to the ancestors on this day. In addition to tomb sweeping, it is also a day for folks to go sightseeing, fly kites and play on a swing.

　   农历五月初五是端午节。这一节日源于对中国历史上一位伟大的诗人和政治家——屈原的纪念。屈原是战国时期楚国的大夫，非常有作为，遭到小人诋毁，被楚王赶出了都城。楚国灭亡后，他悲愤投江而死。百姓们担心屈原会被水中的蛟龙吃掉，就用植物的叶子包上米，往江中投放。于是，每年五月初五，人们用包粽子、划龙舟来纪念屈原。久而久之，就有了中国人的传统节日——端午节。端午节最重要的习俗是包粽子。用芦苇叶、茭白叶或者竹叶包上糯米就是粽子。端午节最热闹的民俗活动就是赛龙舟。赛龙舟又称龙舟竞渡，在中国已有数千年的历史，广泛流行于中国长江中下游和西南少数民族地区。

The fifth day of the fifth lunar month is the Dragon Boat Festival, a festival celebrated in commemoration of Qu Yuan, who was a great poet and statesman in the Chinese history. Being a senior official in the State of Chu during the Warring States Period, Qu Yuan made great achievements in his position. However, after being framed by several villains, he was driven away from the capital by the ruler of Chu. After the perishment of the State of Chu, Qu Yuan drowned himself in a river out of grief and resentment. Worried that his body might be eaten by the flood dragon, people wrapped rice in the leaves of plants and threw them into the river. From then on, people began to make zongzi, rice dumplings, and row dragon boats in memory of Qu Yuan every year on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, which later became a traditional festival for Chinese people—the Dragon Boat Festival. The most important custom on the Dragon Boat Festival is to make zongzi by wrapping glutinous rice in the leaves of reeds, cane shoots or bamboos. The most jubilant folk activity on the festival is the dragon-boat racing, which boasts a history of several thousand years and is very popular in the middle and lower reaches of China’s Yangtze River and among some minority ethnic groups in the southwest regions of China.