"Guo Nian," meaning "passing the year," is the common term among the Chinese people for celebrating the Spring Festival. It actually means greeting the new year. At midnight at the turn of the old and new year, people used to let off fire-crackers which serve to drive away the evil spirits and to greet the arrival of the new year. In an instant the whole city would be engulfed in the deafening noise of the firecrackers.

On New Year's Eve, all the members of families come together to feast. Jiaozi, a steamed dumpling as pictured below, is popular in the north, while southerners favor a sticky sweet glutinous rice pudding called nian gao.

One legend goes that the beast Nian had a very big mouth that would swallow a great many people with one bite. People were very scared.

传说有一个叫年的怪兽，有一个大嘴，能一口吞下很多人。人们都很怕它。

The custom of putting up red paper and firing fire-crackers is to scare away Nian.

贴红纸和方鞭炮的习俗就是为了吓跑年。3lian.com/zl/转载请保留