As the Spring Festival (春節(jié) Chūn jié) is coming soon, let's look at some keywords you might use to talk about it in Chinese - and to wish a Happy New Year of the Dragon to your Chinese friends, colleagues, and family.

Spring Festival Vocab

01. Spring Festival

春節(jié)
Chūn jié
Spring Festival
(also known as the Chinese New Year)

02. The Date

The celebration of the holiday follows the lunar calendar (農(nóng)歷 nóng lì), causing its date on the Gregorian or solar calendar (陽歷 yáng lì) to vary each year.

This year's (春節(jié) Chūn jié) falls on February 10, Saturday.

2024年2月10日
èr líng èr sì nián èr yuè shí rì
February 10, 2024
(by the solar calendar)

正月初一
zhēng yuè chū yī
the 1st day of the 1st lunar month
(by the lunar calendar)

除夕
chú xī
Chinese New Year's Eve

03. Year of the Dragon

There are 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac, and this year's zodiac animal is the Dragon (龍 lóng).

龍年
Lóng nián

04. A Year Filled with Lóngevity!

In the upcoming year, lóngevity is anticipated, as the Dragon (龍 lóng) spreads its wings. Here are some 龍-related greetings you can share with your friends, colleagues, and family:

祝你在新的一年里:
Zhù nǐ zài xīn de yī nián lǐ:
In the new year, I wish you:

龍年大吉
Lóng nián dà jí
Good luck in the Year of the Dragon

生龍活虎，龍馬精神
Shēng lóng huó hǔ, lóng mǎ jīng shén
A year filled with energy, spirit, and vitality

New Year's Traditions

In the last week's article, we talked about traditions before the Spring Festival (春節(jié) chūn jié). There's still time to do some New Year's shopping or try your hands at paper-cutting.

Hurry and make the most of the festive preparations!

Now, here are a few Chinese traditions you can participate in the days after 初一 (chū yī), first day of the New Year.

Celebrate the Chinese New Year's Day
1st day of the New Year
Feb 10, 2024

初一
Chū yī
First day of the New Year

The Year of the Dragon is here.

It's quite common to exchange 紅包 (hóng bāo) – red packets! They can be "physical" red envelopes with cash, but nowadays, most of 紅包-s are exchanged "digitally" on Wechat.

Have you ever exchanged 紅包 hóng bāo-s on WeChat? Are you good at snatching them quickly?

Visit the Wife's Family
2nd day of the New Year
Feb 11, 2024

初二
Chū èr
2nd day of the New Year

According to the tradition, the 2nd day of the New Year is the time to 回娘家 (huí niáng jia) – visit the family of one's wife's side. This is the time when the gifts bought earlier start coming in handy! Along with 紅包 (hóng bāo), red envelopes.

Is there a special day of the year in your culture when a wife, with her husband and children, should visit her parents?

Stay at Home
Day 3 of the New Year
Feb 12, 2024

初三
Chū sān
3rd day of the New Year

On the 3rd day of the New Year, people traditionally stay at home and don't go out. It's a perfect time to relax, watch TV, and engage in indoor activities.

Greet 灶神, the Kitchen God
4th day of the New Year
Feb 13, 2024

初四
Chū sì
4th day of the New Year

And on the 4th day, the tradition continues – but with a new twist. Because it's the day when 灶神 Zào shén (the Kitchen God) comes back! And what's the proper way to welcome the Kitchen God? By tricking him a little, of course!

This time, it's done by having a meal put together of all the food left since the CNY feast (過年以來的剩飯剩菜 guò nián yǐ lái de shèng fàn shèng cài). First of all, it's practical: this way the family can finally finish all the food. And secondly, once the Kitchen God arrives and sees a family having leftovers, he will feel sorry and help make the new year more prosperous.

Greet 財(cái)神, the God of Wealth
5th day of the New Year
Feb 14, 2024

初五
Chū wǔ
5th day of the New Year

The 5th day of the New Year got the name 財(cái)神節(jié) cái shén jié ("the day of the God of Wealth"), and as it happens to be his birthday, many people will post welcoming messages to him online, and make fruit offerings offline.

Indeed, nowadays the tradition of welcoming in (迎接 yíng jiē) the God of Wealth is still very popular. Who doesn't want to be prosperous, and let their businesses thrive in the new year?

Celebrate Lantern Festival
15th day of the New Year
Feb 24, 2024

This day marks the last day of the Chinese New year celebrations. It's the first full moon in the New Year!

元宵節(jié)
yuán xiāo jié
Lantern Festival

On this day, people traditionally eat sweet dumplings called 元宵 (yuán xiāo, "first night") in the north and 湯圓 (tāng yuán, "round balls in soup") in the south. They resemble the shape of the full moon, and symbolize reunion.

It's also a lovely tradition to send sky lanterns 孔明燈 (kǒng míng dēng) into the sky. Although nowadays in big cities it's a bit dangerous – it's flying "fire", after all! – so you can always choose to send a digital 孔明燈 instead.

來源：That's Mandarin
編輯：萬月英