I. New Year's Eve party
On New Year's Eve, big cities hold grand New Year's Eve parties. This activity is full of carnival elements such as laughter, singing and dancing, fireworks and so on. It represents the end of a year and the beginning of a new year. People let themselves fly at the party to welcome the new year. This carnival celebration shows the enthusiasm, openness and optimism of the people of China.
Second, pray for the New Year.
New Year's Day is the beginning of a new year. People will pray on this day and go to temples, churches or other religious places to pray for peace, happiness and smoothness in the new year, which reflects the belief and yearning for a better life in China's traditional culture.
Third, ancestor worship.
Some families will go to ancestral graves or ancestral temples to pay homage to their ancestors on the first day of the New Year's Day, which is a respect for their ancestors, a continuation of traditional family culture and an expression of gratitude to their ancestors.
Regional customs of New Year's Day
New Year's Day Customs in the North
Winter in the north is cold, with short days and long nights. Since New Year's Day, people who are slack in farming kill pigs and sheep, sit cross-legged on the heatable adobe sleeping platform, and talk about their families. They don't go out until the 15th day of the first month. Due to the cold weather, the Northeast New Year's Day diet is mainly frozen products, pickles and stews.
New Year's Day Customs in South China
Compared with the vulgarity of New Year's Day customs in the north, the New Year's Day customs in the south are more elegant. In Jiangsu and Zhejiang provinces, bamboo poles are tied to grass and lit on the first day of New Year's Day, which is called "Qingtian silkworm". Shaoxing will entertain guests with "tea bowls" on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and some even add olives and kumquat, which is called "holding gold ingots".
Fujian New Year's Day custom
Yin Min's "spring" and "surplus" are the same. When eating during the New Year, flowers made of red paper should be inserted into the rice, commonly known as "spring rice". Spring rice is a symbol of "more than one year". In Guangdong, on New Year's Day, the elders will reward the younger generation with red envelopes or oranges, which is also a symbol of good luck and balance in the coming year.