【基本詞匯與短語】：
　　【Greeting Season】:

　　春節(jié) The Spring Festival               農(nóng)歷 lunar calendar

　　正月 lunar January; the first month by lunar calendar

　　除夕 New Year‘s Eve; eve of lunar New Year

　　初一 the beginning of New Year     元宵節(jié) The Lantern Festival

　　【Customs】：

　　過年 Guo-nian; have the Spring Festival

　　對聯(lián) poetic couplet: two successive rhyming lines in poetry

　　春聯(lián) Spring Festival couplets          剪紙 paper-cuts

　　買年貨 special purchases for the Spring Festival ; do Spring Festival shopping

　　年畫 New Year paintings                敬酒 propose a toast

　　燈籠 lantern: a portable light          煙花 fireworks

　　爆竹 firecrackers (People scare off evil spirits and ghosts with the loud pop.)

　　紅包 red packets (cash wrapped up in red paper, symbolize fortune and wealth in the coming year.)

　　舞獅 lion dance (The lion is believed to be able to dispel evil and bring good luck.)

　　舞龍 dragon dance (to expect good weather and good harvests)

　　戲曲 traditional opera                  雜耍 variety show; vaudeville

　　燈謎 riddles written on lanterns     燈會 exhibit of lanterns

　　守歲 staying-up                         禁忌 taboo

　　拜年 pay New Year‘s call; give New Year‘s greetings; New Year‘s visit

　　去晦氣 get rid of the ill- fortune

　　祭祖宗 offer sacrifices to one‘s ancestors

　　壓歲錢 gift money; money given to children as a lunar New Year gift

　　【Culture Note】：In the old days, New Year‘s money was given in the form of one hundred copper coins strung together on a red string and symbolized the hope that one would live to be a hundred years old. Today, money is placed inside red envelopes in denominations considered auspicious and given to represent luck and wealth

　　辭舊歲 bid farewell to the old year

　　掃房 spring cleaning; general house-cleaning

　　【Food names】：

　　年糕 Nian-gao; rise cake; New Year cake

　　團圓飯 family reunion dinner                 年夜飯 the dinner on New Year‘s Eve

　　餃子 Jiao-zi; Chinese meat ravioli           八寶飯 eight treasures rice pudding

　　湯圓 Tang-yuan; dumplings made of sweet rice, rolled into balls and stuffed with either sweet or  spicy fillings

　　糖果盤 candy tray:                              什錦糖 assorted candies - sweet and fortune

　　蜜冬瓜 candied winter melon - growth and good health

　　西瓜子 red melon seed - joy, happiness, truth and sincerity

　　金桔 cumquat - prosperity                    紅棗 red dates - prosperity

　　糖蓮子 candied lotus seed - many descendents to come

　　糖藕 candied lotus root - fulfilling love relationship

　　花生糖 peanut candy - sweet

　　【Blessing】:

　　Treasures fill the home 財源廣進

　　Business flourishes 事業(yè)興隆

　　Peace all year round 歲歲平安

　　Wishing you prosperity 恭喜發(fā)財

　　Harmony brings wealth 家和萬事興

　　May all your wishes come true 心想事成

　　Everything goes well 萬事如意

　　The country flourishes and people live in peace 國家富強、人民安康

　　Money and treasures will be plentiful 財源茂盛

　　Wishing you every success Promoting to a higher position 事業(yè)有成、更上一層樓、蒸蒸日上

　　Safe trip wherever you go 一帆風順

　　Wish you happiness and prosperity in the coming year! 祝你新的一年快樂幸福

　　Wish you success in your career and happiness of your family! 事業(yè)成功，家庭美滿（闔家歡樂）

　　【中國新年禁忌】：

　　Dos and Donts of Chinese New Year

　　Do's:

　　Wish everyone you meet a happy New Year by saying "gong xi fa cai", which translates to: "Have a happy and prosperous New Year!"  對每一個你遇到的人道一聲：“恭喜發(fā)財”，翻譯成英文就是：“在新的一年里擁有幸福繁榮的生活”；

　　Wear articles of red clothing because red symbolizes luck.  穿紅色布料做成的飾品，因為紅色昭示著幸運；

　　Eat vegetarian food because it's not good to see blood.  吃素食，因為見血是不吉利的；

　　Buy new trousers because the Chinese word for trousers is "fu", (Chinese homonym for wealth)  買新褲子（衣服），因為漢語里褲子就是“服”，（在漢語里與財富的“富”諧音）；

　　Children should stay up as late as possible on New Year's Eve for it is believed that the later they stay up, the longer their parents will live. 孩子應(yīng)該在除夕之夜盡可能晚睡、熬夜因為據(jù)說他們睡的越晚，他們的父母越長壽；

　　Visit family (especially those older than yourself) and friends to pass on your wishes on good fortune for the New Year. (plus kids and single people will receive lai-see lucky red packets full of money.  拜訪親戚朋友（尤其是比你年長的），傳遞你對他們來年幸福的美好祝愿（另外孩子和單身的人將會得到裝滿錢的幸運紅包，稱為“來喜”。）

　　Give two lai see to each child. Because happiness comes in two's, do not just give one. This is your way of passing good luck to the next generation. Business owners also give lai see to employees and associates. 給每個孩子兩份“來喜”（我覺得應(yīng)該指錢是偶數(shù)的），因為好事成雙，不要只給一份。這是你把祝愿傳遞給下一代的方法。企業(yè)主（老板）也要給員工和同事紅包。

　　Don'ts:

　　Don't wear white or black clothing, since they are the traditional colours of mourning.  不要穿白色或黑色服裝，因為這是傳統(tǒng)意義上喪事的顏色；

　　Don't buy new shoes for the first month of the New Year, because the sound of shoe in Chinese is "hai". "Hai" is similar to the sound of sighing, which Chinese believe is not a good way to start the year.  不要在新年的第一個月買新鞋，因為在漢語里鞋的發(fā)音是“孩”（好像是四川地區(qū)的發(fā)音）， 它與嘆息”唉“相近，中國人認為這不是新年伊始的好兆頭。

　　Don't wash your hair for the first three days of the New Year, because the Chinese word for hair is a homonym for the Chinese word for wealth. Therefore, Chinese believe it isn't a good thing to 'wash away your wealth' right at the start of the New Year. 在新年的前三天里不要洗頭，因為漢語里“頭發(fā)”的“發(fā)”和“發(fā)財”的“發(fā)”同音。因此，中國認為在新年伊始把財富給沖走可不是好兆頭。

　　Floors may not be swept and garbage may not be disposed of on the first day of the New Year for fear of casting riches out the door.  在新年第一天，不拖地，不扔垃圾，因為怕把"財"給送走了；

　　Don't swear or quarrel. 不要詛咒發(fā)誓，也不愿吵架；

　　Don't break any dishes, otherwise you may incur more misfortune for the New Year. In the event of breaking a dish, quickly say " Peace for all time", and the bad luck will be warded away.  不要打破碗碟，否則在來年你可能會遭遇不幸。一旦打破了，要馬上說“歲歲平安”，這樣壞運氣就會被趕走了；

　　Don't greet people who are in mourning.  不要向服喪期的人們問候（主要指不要說喜慶的話吧？）

　　Don't drop your chopsticks. 不要讓筷子掉地上；

　　Don't say the number 'four' (Chinese homonym for death) or mention death. 不要說數(shù)字“四”（漢語里和“死”諧音）或者提到死；

　　Don't borrow or lend money. 不要借錢也不要借給別人錢。