Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival and Lunar New Year, is pretty much the biggest holiday of the year in China.
中国新年,也被称为春节和农历新年,在中国几乎是一年当中最重要的节日。
If you're not going to be in China to welcome the new year, but you'd like to join in on some of the holiday festivities,
如果你不打算在中国迎接新年,但你也想加入这个节日的庆祝当中,
here are some traditions that you too can participate in, no matter where you're located.
那么下面这些传统活动,无论你身在何处,都可以参与其中。
Traditions do vary from region to region in China, and from family to family.
在中国,不同地区、不同家庭的春节传统都不一样。
But these are some of the most widely practiced activities.
但以下这些是最普遍的庆祝活动。
Number one: create and hang homemade "duilian" or rhyming couplets.
第一:自制并悬挂“对联”。
Red paper, black paint, a paintbrush, and the saying is all you'll need to add festivity and good fortune to your home in the coming year.
通过红纸,黑墨,毛笔写下的这些俗语,都是为了给你的家庭在来年增添喜庆和好运。
Duilian, also known as chun-lin, are poetry couplets where the two lines are antithetical,
对联,也被称为春联,其两侧诗词是对偶的,
yet contain complimentary words that bring good fortune to the home and its residents.
内容都是赞美的词语,为的是给家庭和家人带来好运。
Use your best calligraphy skills to write out the three lines, and tape them around your door frame.
你需要用书法技巧写出这三行词语,然后把它们贴在门框上。
You can find many ready to write sayings online,
现在,你可以在网上找到许多写好的词句,
choose one specific to the Chinese zodiac year approaching, or find another couplet that you like.
然后选择一幅与即将到来的中国生肖年相关,或者你喜欢的对联。
Number two: make homemade "jiaozi" or dumplings, a common tradition in northern China, is to make dumplings for the new year.
第二:自己包的“饺子”,这是中国北方常见的传统习俗,即为新年包饺子。
From mixing up the dough, to rolling out the wrappers and filling them, to boiling the dumplings on the stove,
从和面,到擀皮、拌馅儿,再到在炉子上煮饺子,
it's a process that the whole family can get involved in.
这个过程整个家庭都可以参与。
Some families even put a freshly washed coin inside a dumpling.
一些家庭甚至会在饺子里放一枚洁净的硬币。
The person who gets that dumpling will have good fortune all year long.
吃到饺子的人一整年都会有好运。
Number three: go shopping for new clothes and accessories.
第三:买新衣服和饰品。
It's customary to treat yourself and your loved ones to new clothes to wear as you usher in the Chinese New Year.
按照习俗,你要给自己和你爱的人买新衣服,穿着迎接新年。
If this is your benmingnian, the year of your birth zodiac sign,
如果今年是你的本命年,也就是你出生的生肖年,
then it is a tradition to wear at least one red item every day for the whole year, to negate the bad luck brought on by the year.
就会有一项传统习俗,那就是要在全年每天至少穿一件红色衣物,这样可以消除一年中的霉运。
Number four: clean the house from top to bottom.
第四:从上到下打扫房子。
Depending on your personality, this might not be the most fun activity on the list.
根据你的个性,这可能不是这项列表上最有趣的传统活动。
But in China, it's essential to start the new year with a clean house to symbolize a fresh new start,
但在中国,以一个干净的房子开始新的一年是必不可少的,这象征着一个新的开始,
sweep away all the dust and bad memories and open the door to a year of endless possibilities.
扫去所有的灰尘和糟糕的记忆,开启一扇充满无限可能的大门。
This wraps up the list of the biggest traditions for celebrating Chinese New Year.
以上这些就是庆祝中国新年的最重要的传统习俗。