China new year-the Spring Festival

Spring Festival is one of the most solemn and distinctive traditional festivals among Chinese people. Generally, it refers to New Year's Eve and the first day of the first month of the year, also called the lunar year, commonly known as the "New Year". From the Laba or Xiaonian Festival to the Yuanxiao (Filled round balls made of glutinous rice-flour for Lantern Festival) Festival, it is called the "New Year". The Spring Festival has a long history and originated from the primitive beliefs and natural worship of early humans. It evolved from the ancient age of praying for the beginning of the year and is a primitive religious ritual. People hold sacrificial activities at the beginning of the year to pray for a bountiful harvest and prosperity of people and animals in the coming year. This kind of sacrificial activity gradually evolved into various celebration activities over time, ultimately forming today's Spring Festival. The Spring Festival has a long history and evolved from the ancient era of praying for the beginning of the year and offering sacrifices. The term "Spring Festival" began to be used after the Xinhai Revolution. During the Spring Festival, the Han and many ethnic minorities in China hold various activities to celebrate. These activities are mainly focused on ancestor worship, gratitude and blessings, family reunion, cleaning up the old, welcoming the new, and praying for a prosperous year, with strong ethnic characteristics. There are many folk customs during the Spring Festival, including drinking Laba Congee, offering sacrifices to the Kitchen God, dustsweeping, pasting Spring Festival couplets, pasting New Year pictures, pasting the character of blessing upside down, keeping vigil on New Year's Eve, eating dumplings, lucky money, paying New Year's greetings, visiting temple fairs, etc. Influenced by Chinese culture, some countries and regions around the world also have customs to celebrate the Chinese New Year. From Egypt in Africa to Brazil in South America, from the Empire State Building in New York to the Sydney Opera House, the Chinese Lunar New Year has sparked a "Chinese style" around the world. The Spring Festival is rich and colorful, with important historical, artistic, and cultural values. In 2006, the folk customs of the Spring Festival were approved by the State Council to be included in the first batch of national intangible cultural heritage list. On December 22, 2023 local time, the 78th United Nations General Assembly designated the Spring Festival (Lunar New Year) as a United Nations holiday.