On New Year's Day, there are activities such as offering sacrifices to gods and buddhas, worshipping ancestors, posting Spring Festival couplets, setting off firecrackers and having a reunion dinner. Many places will also hold large-scale entertainment celebrations, and everyone will get together to feel the happy atmosphere brought by New Year's Day.

When China just started celebrating New Year's Day, the customs and habits it celebrated were, of course, mostly similar to the Spring Festival, or a scaled-down version of the Spring Festival. Although some traditional ways of celebration have been followed, such as setting off firecrackers, killing three students, worshipping ghosts and gods, and worshipping ancestors.

New Year's Day-calendar concept

The concept of "New Year's Day" in China has always referred to "the first day of the first month. The calculation method of "the first month" was also very inconsistent before the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty. Therefore, the new year's day of the past dynasties is not consistent. The first month of the summer calendar in summer is spring January, the first month of the Yin calendar in Shang Dynasty is winter December, and the first month of the Zhou calendar is winter November.

after Qin Shihuang unified China, October was the first month, that is, the first day of October was New Year's Day. Since Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, it has been stipulated that January in spring is the first month, and the first day of January is called New Year's Day, which has been used until the end of the Qing Dynasty.

the first day of the first month is called yuanzheng in Cui Yuan's inscription on the three sons of women in the Han dynasty, yuanchen in Yu's ode to Yangdu in the Jin dynasty, yuanchun in Yuan Hui's ode to the emperor's summer in the Northern Qi Dynasty, and Tang Dezong-Li Shi's poem Yuanri retired from the dynasty to watch the army return to camp.