Unforgetable Spring Festival
Unforgettable Spring Festival The Spring Festival, which is commonly known in the west as Chinese New Year, is the most important festival for the Chinese people and the moment that all family members get together just like Christmas. People who live or work away from home will go home before the Spring Festival. Therefore, it is the busiest time for the transportation systems. Spring festival is my favorite festival because all my family members can get together and that family plays an important role in my life. My family members don't live in the same city, so we can only meet each other on Spring Festival. The most memorable of spring festival for me is the year when I went to Xi'an to visit my grandfather with my mom and dad. We start preparations for the festival from the last week before New Year. We cleaned the house thoroughly, repaid the debts, cut the hair and bought some new clothes. Doors are decorated with vertical scrolls of characters on red paper which meant to seek good luck and praise nature, this practice stemming from the hanging of peach-wood charms to keep away ghosts and evil spirits. In many families incense is burned, and also in the temples as a mark of respect to ancestors. Besides the Chinese character "fu" (meaning blessing or happiness) was a must that used to put on paper to post normally or upside down. For Chinese the "reversed fu" is homophonic with "fu has come", both being pronounced as "fudaole." What's more, two big red lanterns were raised on both sides of the front door and Red paper-cuttings were seen on window glass and brightly colored New Year paintings with auspicious meanings were put on the wall. Therefore, we have a lot of preparation to do before the festive come. People often pay a great attention to the Spring Festival Eve. On New Year’s Eve, our family would prepare a great feast. The meal was more luxurious than usual. Dishes such as chicken, fish and bean curd cannot be excluded. It is because in