New Year in China it is celebrated twice. According to European tradition, it is celebrated on the night of December 31 to January 1 and is called Yuan-dan. Residents of the country celebrate it in the family circle, modestly and calmly. Since ancient times, the New Year in China has been celebrated on the second new moon after the winter solstice (on one of the days between January 21 and February 21).

New Year 1 January

The country's main Christmas tree is set up and decorated in the center of Beijing, on the historic shopping street - Qianmen. Due to the influence of Western European culture and the influx of foreign tourists, you can feel the spirit in the capital new year holidays more than in other cities. In large shopping and office centers are installed artificial christmas tree... Dressed up Santa Clauses walk the streets. V new year's eve people leave their homes and gather in the main square - Tiananmen, congratulate each other and admire the festive fireworks.

Traditions and rituals

New Year January 1 in China is a young holiday. It has no ancient established traditions. European culture had a great influence on its implementation.

The day before new year's eve Chinese housewives are cleaning houses. It is customary to celebrate the holiday in new clothes, which should attract order and success.

According to Buddhist tradition, midnight is announced by the ringing of bells in temples. The bells are ringing 108 times. The Chinese believe that in every person there are six vices (greed, anger, stupidity, indecision, frivolity, envy), which have 18 shades. With each blow of the bells, a person gets rid of one of the pernicious traits. In the first minutes of the new year, the Chinese try to laugh and smile at each other so that the year will pass happily and peacefully.

The tradition of decorating homes for the New Year is not common in all parts of China. In large cities, Christmas trees are installed in public places and new year decorations... Trees in parks and squares are dressed up with colorful electric garlands.

The Chinese New Year's feast does not have any outstanding features. A family gala dinner is served by the hostesses. The main ingredients of the national cuisine are rice, noodles, soy, chicken and pork. The most popular dishes: pork in sweet and sour sauce, gongbao chicken with chili, mapo tofu with ground beef and vegetables, wontons - flour products stuffed with minced meat or shrimp, chow mein - fried noodles, Peking duck.

As desserts, there are traditional sweets on the tables: apples or bananas in caramel, peanuts in sweet glaze, fried bananas in batter, egg tartlets, rice balls with honey, caramelized peaches. For the holidays, Chinese housewives love to bake fortune cookies inside.

It is not common in China to give each other gifts by January 1st. The Chinese send presents and e-cards to your friends from Europe and countries for which the New Year is the main holiday.

history of the holiday

The tradition of celebrating the New Year on the night of December 31 to January 1 came to China after the adoption of the Gregorian calendar in 1911. To avoid confusion between the European and Lunar New Years, on September 27, 1949, the government of the republic approved the official names of these holidays. First day lunar calendar began to call Chun Jie, and January 1 according to the Gregorian calendar - Yuan-dan, which literally translates as "the beginning of dawn." Yuan Dan became official public holiday and the day off.

Cities and resorts

China is an amazing country with a lot to see. New Years holidays it will bring unforgettable impressions and new emotions.

The capital of the People's Republic of China - Beijing - will amaze you with its scale, active nightlife, and an abundance of hotels and restaurants. Tours to the Great Wall of China are the most popular among tourists. This unique structure was built during the Ming Dynasty. It reaches 10 meters in height and 6,000 kilometers in length.

The famous landmarks of the capital of the Celestial Empire include: Beihan and Jingshan Parks, the Summer Imperial Palace (Yiheyuan), the Temple of Heaven (Tiantan), and the Gugong Imperial Palace. Beijing is home to the world's largest square, Tiananmen, Asia's largest zoo and oceanarium.

The port city of Dalian is located in the northeast of China. It is famous for its clean air, magnificent pebble beaches, a combination of ancient Chinese and Japanese culture. There are many opportunities for tourists to spend their holidays in an interesting and unusual way: excursions to mountain waterfalls, fishing, yachting, visiting golf and tennis clubs, shopping in Chinese bazaars. There are many sanatoriums in Dalian, which offer their clients ancient folk methods diagnosis and treatment.

Beach lovers will love Hainan Island, which is located in a tropical climate zone. In the city of Sanya, they can stay in a luxury hotel on the shores of the bay, soak up the clean sandy beaches.

In the northwest of China's Hunan province, the Zhangjiajie Natural Park is famous for its rich flora, fauna and unique landscape. In winter, this place maintains a positive temperature, which will make walks comfortable. Unique sights are located on the territory of the park: the Yellow Dragon Cave and the ancient Buddhist temple "Heavenly Gate".

A trip to the cultural and spiritual capital of Tibet - Lhasa will become an exotic type of New Year's holiday. Tourists will be amazed by the grandeur of the landscapes, ancient temples and monasteries.

When we meet every New Year, we try to take into account the characteristics and characteristics of a particular patron animal. This tradition came to us from China. However, few people take into account that the Chinese New Year is celebrated somewhat later than ours. In the Celestial Empire, the date of everyone's favorite holiday is floating, because it depends on the lunar calendar. Traditionally, the Chinese New Year, which in this country is called Chun Jie, is celebrated on the 15th day of the first lunar month. In 2017, the New Year in China will come on January 28th. Unlike our country, its celebration lasts 15 days and obeys the most ancient foundations.

New Year in China - history and traditions of celebration

Let's start with the history of the Chinese New Year. Read the story of our New Year. According to legend, more than two thousand years ago, the Chinese believed that on New Year's Eve, a terrible monster called Nian emerges from the depths of the sea. The monster devoured everything around, so for many years the people of China celebrated the New Year by locking themselves in their houses and turning off the lights. One day, before the next New Year, someone forgot to remove the red blanket from their yard. When the monster was released, it, as usual, went in search of victims, but at the sight of the red veil, Nian lost control and evaporated. Since then, the Chinese have celebrated the New Year by wearing red clothes and hanging red lanterns around the city.

New Year in China - what are the traditions of celebration

It is customary to celebrate the Chinese New Year with a wide family circle. The day before the onset of the holiday, numerous relatives gather in the house of the older generation and begin to prepare for the event.

Preparation for the holiday begins with a general cleaning. Moreover, it is customary to sweep the floor from the door to the center of the room. After cleaning, all brooms, brooms and mops are hidden in a secluded place and are taken out only after the end of the holiday. This tradition is connected with an interesting legend, according to which during the New Year the Gods endow the people of China with magic dust, which brings happiness. But if someone wants to clean up during the holiday, this dust will turn into ash, which, instead of happiness, will bring trouble to the residents of the house.

With the onset of the first twilight, the whole family sits down at the table. The main New Year's dish in this country is jiaozi - boiled dough with meat, reminiscent of dumplings. This dish symbolizes the health and prosperity of the inhabitants of the house. Also in the holiday must be present broth with noodles, symbolizing longevity and meat donuts, as a sign of strength and endurance.
In addition to the feast itself at the New Year's table, gifts are exchanged. The younger generation gives fruit and sweets to relatives, and the older one pleases their descendants with red envelopes with a banknote. It is believed that money donated on New Year's Eve, regardless of the amount, will bring happiness.

After midnight, an interesting rite of passage takes place. All family members leave the house and take ten steps in the direction recommended in their horoscopes. In this way, the Chinese pay tribute to the God of joy.

On the morning after the New Year, it is customary to visit your friends and acquaintances. Interestingly, instead of gifts, Chinese people give a friend two tangerines each. It turns out that in the Chinese language the hieroglyph "mandarin" is consonant with the hieroglyph "gold", and by making such a gift, people wish each other to increase their wealth.

New Year Festival in China

Throughout the fifteen days of the holiday, massive festivals take place on the main streets of Chinese cities, marking the beginning of the New Year. During this period, China is literally illuminated with fireworks, sky lanterns and bright lights. In addition to the procession itself, various entertainment events are organized during the holiday - dances, shows of national costumes, sweets fairs, etc. At the end of the action, the inhabitants march, carrying in their hands a huge red dragon, symbolizing the strength and greatness of the Chinese state.

Some festival days are celebrated as separate holidays. For example, the fifth day of the New Year's festival is considered the birthday of the God of Wealth. On this day, it is customary to shower passers-by with gold coins. The eighth day of the festival is a family holiday. Lonely Chinese people on this day must definitely do some nice gift stranger of the opposite sex, and the family residents of the Middle Kingdom are obliged to spend time with their family. Also interesting traditions are associated with the celebration of the ninth and tenth days of the festival. These days, the people of China pray to the Heavenly Jade Emperor and ask him to help all those in need. In addition, during this period, it is customary to ask for forgiveness and put up with your enemies. The final fifteenth day of the festival is considered a Holiday sky lanterns... On this day, a bright lantern is hung out on each city building, and a lighted candle is placed on the windowsill. This is done so that souls who want to visit the world of people find their way home as soon as possible.

The history of celebrating the New Year according to the Chinese calendar dates back to ancient times.

He does not have a fixed date, it is calculated according to the lunisolar calendar and occurs on one of the days between January 21 and February 21. In 2019, it will come on the night of February 5th.

The onset of the New Year according to the Chinese calendar is eagerly awaited not only in Asian countries. The whole world froze in anticipation of the new patron of the year, but few people know the history of the origin of this holiday.

Story

Chun Jie has ancient history dating back to the rites of sacrifice to deities and commemoration of ancestors, which were performed at the end and beginning of the year in the Shang era 1600-1100 BC.

According to legend, a terrible monster named Chun or Nian (in Chinese means "year"), with horns on its head, which lived in the depths of the sea, got into the habit of crawling into the nearest village on New Year's Eve and devouring everything - animals, grain, supplies and even people.

People were afraid of the monster and prepared for its annual appearance in advance. To protect their families, on the eve of the holiday, they piled food at the doorstep of their house. It was believed that the more you put, the more likely it was that the beast would be satisfied with the offering and would not touch people. And they themselves, taking with them the most important things, left the village for the mountains.

This went on for many years. One day on the eve of the day when the monster was supposed to come out of the sea, an old man appeared in the village with a bag over his shoulders, a gray mustache and a staff.
However, due to the fuss, no one paid attention to him. Only one old woman advised him to leave as soon as possible, since Nian would appear soon. He replied that if he was left for the night, he would drive the monster away once and for all. The woman let the elder into her house, gave him food and left him to spend the night, while she did not hope to find him alive in the morning.

There was no limit to the surprise of the returning villagers when the grandfather, safe and sound, moreover, who had driven out a terrible monster, was peacefully resting on the doorstep in a red painted dressing gown.

Fire crackled merrily in the hut, Entrance door was painted red, and the remains of firecrackers lay on the floor. The old man said that Chun is most afraid of red and loud noise.

There are also other versions that the boy in red allegedly frightened the monster. True or beautiful fiction is unknown, but since then no one has seen the monster.

And the Chinese still decorate houses with red lanterns and scrolls and celebrate the New Year cheerfully and noisily, with firecrackers, garland lights and other tinsel that drive out evil spirits.

Later, fireworks were used to scare Chun away.

How do they prepare

The Chinese begin preparations for the New Year celebration by cleaning their homes, during which they throw away all the trash and unnecessary things that have accumulated over the year. Together with garbage and rubbish, they throw out the old stagnant energy, giving way to new and living energy.

Special attention is paid to decorating the house with the traditional red color and its shades. The Chinese have a special ritual - paired inscriptions are pasted at the entrance to the house, the walls of apartments and houses are decorated with special paintings made of paper patterns.

REUTERS / Sheng Li

It is customary to decorate houses with ripe juicy tangerines in the amount of 8 pieces, since this figure symbolizes infinity.

Not only dwellings are decorated with red - it is customary to wear special red clothes. After all, it is this color, according to legend, that drives away unhappiness and sorrow from the house.

The Chinese do not put up a Christmas tree - they replace its trays with oranges and tangerines. But they need to be laid in a special way - be sure to circle and each of the fruits should be exactly 8 pieces, no less and no more.

However, more and more often you can find those who, instead of citrus fruits, dress up small artificial trees, which are decorated with dried fruits or fresh fruits in sugar.

How they celebrate

In the old days, the holiday lasted a whole month, today the Chinese have cut the number of days off by half. Therefore, the holiday ends on the fifteenth day - the grandiose Festival of Chinese Lanterns.

Traditionally in China, the holiday is celebrated for 15 days, each of which has its own traditions and customs.

The first day of the Chinese New Year begins with a gala dinner, loud fireworks and noisy festivities. Be sure to burn bamboo sticks with the whole family. The Chinese believe that the louder the holiday is, the happier and more joyful the year will be. Also on this day they go to the cemetery to visit their relatives in order to honor their memory.

The second day begins with a prayer: family members ask for health and happiness to all their loved ones; old people - longevity; business people and businessmen - prosperity and enrichment. For beggars, the second day of the holiday is a great success, because they can come to visit and ask for food and alms.

For the next two days, the Chinese try to respect all their friends and relatives and wish them a Happy New Year. They believe that this day should be spent with loved ones in order to be together next year. From this period, all large corporations start their work and everything gradually returns to its normal course.

The fifth and sixth are dedicated to wealth and business, which is why the rest of the companies start to work, but they go to work for a reason, but they certainly launch fireworks.

The seventh day of the holiday, like the second, is customary to begin with prayer and worship of God. It is believed that man was created on this day. So that incomes only increase and business flourishes, the Chinese prepare a special salad of raw fish called "Yusheng".

Eighth, ninth, tenth - all Chinese are already returning to work, and in the evenings they arrange small family festive dinners with prayer, after which they go to the temple to light special smoking candles.

The eleventh day is the day of the son-in-law, when the father-in-law always arranges a noisy and rich holiday for the husband of his daughter. Every father tries to respect him and arrange the best holiday for him.

The next three days, basically everyone is busy preparing for the main holiday - the holiday of lanterns. Everybody buys decorations, lanterns, lantern sheds and so on.

On the fifteenth last day, concerts, theater performances are usually held, people with lighted lanterns walk around the square with their families, and fireworks, firecrackers and firecrackers are thundering around.

Traditions

On New Year's Eve, all family members, wherever they are, come home and gather at a richly set festive table. Therefore, the Chinese call this holiday "a meeting after parting." This is the most enduring tradition of celebrating the Chinese New Year.

They discuss the outgoing year with the whole family - what they have achieved, what they have learned and what remains to be done.

Residents of the Celestial Empire believe that on New Year's Eve, the spirits of deceased ancestors are present at the table, who are also participants in the holiday.

The main course on New Year's table dumplings become, which are similar in shape to a gold bar. The inhabitants of the Celestial Empire are confident that this symbol of prosperity and wealth will bring good luck with the first minutes of the new year according to the Chinese calendar 2019.

Treats such as fish and soy tofu should also be on the table. With these dishes, the Chinese thank the patron saint of the outgoing year for their generosity and indulgence.

Party clothes must be bright colors- red, gold, pink, green. The brighter the outfit, the more chances that an insidious and cunning spirit, capable of bringing grief and loss, will not penetrate into the house.

It is not customary to give serious gifts for the New Year. More often, red envelopes with money, various souvenirs, charms and amulets, sweets and images of the symbol of the coming year are presented.

Any gift, according to the rules, must be paired. The owner is always presented with two tangerines.

The color of the gift also plays a huge role. The main rule is neither a gift nor gift paper should not be white or blue. In this country, these colors represent death and burial.

© photo: Sputnik / Sergey Pyatakov

The gift itself is presented only in private and with two hands. But it is necessary to distribute presents not chaotically, but from the eldest to the youngest.

It is indecent to open a gift in front of everyone, it must be done in private, so as not to offend the donor with a careless look or word.

Singapore and Malaysia have an interesting and romantic tradition on this holiday. To do this, single ladies on the mandarin attach their phone number, and then send the fruit down the river. Single men in turn, they catch these tangerines, eat it, and then call to meet the lady.

What not to do

On New Year's Eve, during a festive feast, it is not customary to talk about the past year - all thoughts and conversations should be directed towards the future.

A festive outfit cannot be combined with black and white, since black is a symbol of failure, and white is the color of mourning.

© photo: Sputnik / Evgeny Epanchintsev

The number "4" is also a symbol of death, therefore it should not be anywhere - neither on a gift, nor on money, and the number of bills should be either more or less.

The house must not be cleaned on the first three days of Chinese New Year. Good deities during the New Year appear in all houses, give happiness and good luck, which settle in the form of dust.

Usually, shoes should not be bought after the Chinese New Year to avoid getting into trouble. And all because, "shoes" in Chinese is consonant with Chinese "difficult".

Also, in the first month, you cannot get a haircut, otherwise failures will fall on your uncle from the mother's side as an avalanche.

In the first days of the New Year's celebration, you should not use knives and other sharp objects, so as not to cut off your happiness.

Washing your hair on New Year's holidays means washing away your luck.

You cannot quarrel, sort things out, swear, shout and utter curses.

Borrow money. It is imperative to distribute all the money that you borrowed.

According to the Chinese calendar, February 5 will be 4719 - the year of the Yellow Earth Pig, which will last until January 25, 2020, when it will be replaced by the year of the White Metal Rat.

The pig is a revered animal in the Celestial Empire. It symbolizes family happiness and wealth. The pig represents kindness, gentleness, peacefulness and patience.

The material was prepared on the basis of open sources.

My curiosity for symbols, for the life of China and its citizens, has not yet dried up. And these days, when everyone around is celebrating the New Year, I want to tell you about how it is celebrated in China ...
New Year is the most popular folk holiday in China, which is celebrated twice: on January 1, as in most Christian countries, and during the new moon - the so-called "Chinese New Year" - Chunjie (Spring Festival). Celebration of the New Year in China begins on the first day of the new moon and lasts 15 days - until the full moon, i.e. 2015 will start on February 19, symbols: Goat (Sheep), Tree. Blue.
The history of celebrating the Chinese New Year goes back many centuries, and it does not have a fixed date. Through complex calculations, the ancient Chinese astronomers calculated that their new year would always come between January 21 and the last days of February, when the end of the cold winter period, it becomes warm, the renewal of nature begins. Therefore, the New Year in China is called the Spring Festival, and since ancient times, the Chinese have pinned their hopes on it for future family happiness, health and well-being.

In China, many traditions and New Year's superstitions are associated with celebrating the New Year. Before the New Year, five long strips of paper were hung on the lintel of the door, symbolizing the "five types of happiness": luck, honor, longevity, wealth and joy.

According to the ancient tradition, it is supposed to create noise and din when the New Year is celebrated. Lighting fireworks for the New Year in China, as well as exploding firecrackers, are associated with the legend that on New Year's Eve, evil spirits, expelled from different places, are looking for a new refuge, settle in it, and all the coming year they will fix various troubles for the owners. Before the invention of firecrackers and firecrackers, any household items that were at hand were used to create noise. From the 14th century. n. e. In China, a custom appeared on New Year's Eve to throw bamboo sticks into the oven, which, when burned, emitted a strong crackling and thereby frightened off evil spirits. Later, these sticks were replaced with firecrackers and pyrotechnics, but the name remained the same.

There was also a belief that evil spirits are afraid of red, therefore, on this day, red prevailed everywhere. Before the New Year for the most various subjects pasted red strips of paper.
Some of the old New Year's rituals have become a thing of the past in big cities, but sometimes they are found in countryside... These customs include gluing windows and doors with paper, the doors had to be closed so that evil spirits would not enter the house.
According to the established tradition, all household chores must be completed by the beginning of the holiday. Cleaning should start at the threshold and end in the middle of the dwelling. By the evening before the holiday, all brooms, scrapers, brushes, buckets, rags and other equipment should be removed in places invisible to the eye.

This is also connected with the legend, according to which on New Year's Eve, the gods bestow good luck on every house for the entire coming year, which, according to legend, settles in the form of dust on the eve and during the celebration of this event. Therefore, it is believed that if someone takes revenge or clean up during the New Year, he risks brushing off luck and bringing trouble to the house and to all family members.

Instead of a tree in China, the so-called Tree of Light is decorated with flowers, garlands and lanterns. On the gates of houses, in the most prominent places, paired inscriptions and pictures with the wishes of happiness, health, longevity are certainly pasted, and the windows are decorated beautiful patterns from paper.

Among new year decorations At home, flowers were given pride of place, primarily peonies, which symbolized wealth and nobility. Daffodils and orchids, symbols of conjugal consent, were very popular, especially in the south of the country. The custom required on the New Year to put vases of flowers on both sides of the family altars. Many exhibited whole bouquets of peonies, orchids, quince and cinnamon branches, since the combination of their names, pronounced aloud, could be perceived as a phrase with good sense: "Wealth and nobility of jasper rest."

On New Year's, a so-called tree was arranged in the house, from which money is shaken. Boiled rice was poured into a bowl, covered with fruit, and a persimmon was placed on top, into which a cypress branch was inserted. Copper coins were tied to the branch with red threads. The money tree was designed to provide wealth and prosperity for the coming year.
Oil lanterns, often with "happy" hieroglyphs inscribed on them, were an obligatory accessory to the New Year's decoration of the house.

Usually, lanterns were placed next to auspicious pictures or inscriptions in rooms and on the walls of houses. Lanterns played a double role: initially they embodied the noble power of light that dispersed the dark forces, but over time they began to be perceived primarily as a decoration for New Year's celebrations.
New Year's outfit The Chinese must have red, be it at least socks or underwear: red, they believe, brings happiness.

In China, great importance is attached to the festive New Year's dinner, during which the whole family gathers at one table, seats at the table are also provided for those family members who, for one reason or another, are absent from the New Year's celebration. Abundant festive table, served on New Year's Eve (or "Chusi" according to Chinese custom), is traditionally called "Nyanye Fan" (which means "New Year's Eve Dinner").

According to local beliefs, as you celebrate the New Year, so it will turn out. Therefore, the Chinese carefully monitor that the festive table is bursting with a variety of treats. It is customary to prepare a festive dinner a few hours before the New Year, so as not to use a knife in the last hours of the old year, which, according to legends, can inadvertently cut off your happiness and good luck.
The main thing is that the table is plentiful. An indispensable decoration of the Chinese table is jiaozi. These are dumplings, in the preparation of which the whole family takes part. Pelmeni is a figurative embodiment of one of the main wishes: the birth of sons. And in the south of the country, for the New Year, they prepare soup with dumplings and noodles, symbolizing longevity.

New Year's Eve Dinner You cannot do without dishes of chicken, fish and doufu - bean curd, because in Chinese the names of these products are consonant with the words meaning "happiness" and "prosperity."
Generally speaking, all dishes traditionally served on the Chinese New Year carry their own symbolism. Everything that is served on the table has a certain meaning, for example, noodles means longevity, red pepper means happiness, fish brings well-being, and so on. Of particular importance is the dessert in the form of sweet rice cakes: once in rich families, a small ingot of gold, silver or precious stone... As you may have guessed, whoever gets a pie filled with jewelry gets happiness and good luck for the next year.

The dinner ends with "Chusi" - the distribution of "money of happiness" to the children in a red envelope. This is the only gift that is not presented as a pair. For the rest, the Chinese, following tradition, make paired offerings: this brings harmony to the family. The family spends the night together in conversations, games or in front of the TV, waiting for the arrival of the New Year. This kind of expectation is called shousui.

And in the morning, people with the whole family go to congratulate relatives and neighbors, following the main rule: the time comes for reconciliation and forgiveness of all insults.
In China, there is also a tradition that originated in antiquity: during the New Year celebration, when you come to visit, you present two tangerines to the hosts, and when you leave, you receive two other tangerines from the hosts. The emergence of this tradition is associated with the fact that in Chinese the pronounced "para mandarin" is consonant with the word "gold".

In China, in general, for the New Year, it is customary to give gifts from paired objects symbolizing unity, family harmony: two vases, two mugs, etc. It is not customary to give watches, especially to the elderly; to give toys, children's things to those who do not have children or who are just awaiting their birth. Usually new Year gifts guests are handed over to the hosts before leaving, sometimes they even leave them in secret.
The New Year is followed by three holidays: chui, chuer and chusan, during which friends and relatives visit each other and give gifts. Then the holiday resumes, and the festivities continue for another two weeks.

During the festive performances, traditional lion and dragon dances are performed. The lion dance, symbolizing protection in the new year from troubles and misfortunes, spread throughout China and began to be performed during the Chunjie festival in the 14th and 16th centuries.
The dragon dance also has a long history. It was included in festive rituals as early as the XII century and expressed the admiration of people for the dragon.

A dragon made of paper, wire and willow rods can reach 8-10 m. Its body is flexible and consists of a different, but necessarily odd number of parts (9, 11, 13). Each part is controlled with a pole by one dancer, the wave-like wriggling movements of the dragon require great coherence of all participants in the dragon dance.

Two weeks after celebrating the New Year, on the first full moon after Chunjie, that is, on the 15th day of the first lunar month, the Yuanxiaojie holiday (the holiday of the first night of Emperor Wen-di) is celebrated, dating back to the 2nd century BC. e. On this day, Emperor Wen-di from the Western Han dynasty took the throne, having won in a difficult struggle with rivals. Later, once a year on this day, he left the palace to have fun with his people.
Like the Spring Festival, Yuanxiaojie is celebrated in the family circle. For dinner, a special dish must be served - yuanxiao, which is snow-white balls of rice flour boiled in water the size of a small chicken egg. Yuanxiao is a symbolic wish of happiness to the family. Another name for Yuanxiaojie is Dengjie (Lantern Festival). This is due to the spread in the 1st century AD. e. in China Buddhism. As a sign of respect to Buddha, on this day they visited the temple and lit lanterns. And today in Beijing parks on the Denjie holiday, exhibitions and competitions of lanterns made of glass, paper, silk are organized.

China becomes a continuous street procession, and thousands of lighted lanterns scare away evil spirits. On this day, it is customary to put steamed rice cakes on the altar, sticking to the hands - they are intended for the Spirit of the Hearth, or the Spirit of Kitchen - Zaosheng.
After the Spring Festival, the brownie, as we would call it, flies to heaven and tells the souls of the ancestors how the past year went for their descendants. And so that he does not blur out too much, he is fed with sticky cakes ...
This, in fact, ends the period of celebrating the Chinese New Year or Chunjie ...

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