FarandawaythemostimportantholidayinChinaisSpringFestival,alsoknownastheChineseNewYear.TotheChinesepeopleitisasimportantasChristmastopeopleintheWest.thedatesforthisannualcelebrationaredeterminedbythelunarcalendarratherthantheGREgoriancalendar,sothetimingoftheholidayvariesfromlateJanuarytoearlyFebruary. 　　TotheordinaryChinese,thefestivalactuallybeginsontheeveofthelunarNewYear’sDayandendsonthefifthdayofthefirstmonthofthelunarcalendar.Butthe15thofthefirstmonth,whichnormallyiscalledtheLanternFestival,meanstheofficialendoftheSpringFestivalinmanypartsofthecountry. 　　2 　　SpringFestivalisthemostimportantandpopularfestivalinChina.BeforeSpringFestival,thepeopleusuallycleananddecoratetheirhouses.AndtheygototheFlowerFairstobuysomeflowers.DuringSpringFestival,theadultsusuallygiveluckymoneytochildren.Peopleoftengettogetherandhaveabigmeal.Somepeopleeatdumplingfordinner. 　　IloveSpringFestival. 　　3 　　ThespringFestivaliscomingsoon!ThefestivelisconsiderededthemostimportantoneforChinesepeople.Itisonthefirstdayoflunaryear.Itisalsothedayofreunionamongfamilymembers.Duringthesedays,peoplewouldsay"happynewyear!orwishyoumakefortune!toeachother.Theywouldalsovisittheirrelativesandfriends.Childrenwouldbegiven"redpackets".Childrenwouldhavemoretoeatandplaythanusual.Playingfirecrackersisalsoapopulargameforchildren. 　　4 　　SpringFestivalisthemostimportantfestivalinChina.It’stocelebratethelunarcalendar‘snewyear.IntheeveningbeforetheSpringFestival,familiesgettogetherandhaveabigmeal.Inmanyplacespeopleliketosetofffirecrackers.Dumplingsarethemosttraditionalfood.Childrenlikethefestivalverymuch,becausetheycanhavedeliciousfoodandwearnewclothes.Theycanalsogetsomemoneyfromtheirparents.Thismoneyisgiventochildrenforgoodluck.PeopleputNewYearscrollsonthewallforgoodfortune. 　　TheSpringFestivallastsabout15dayslong.Peoplevisitrelativesandfriendswiththewords“Haveallyourwishes”.PeopleenjoytheSpringFestival,duringthistimetheycanhaveagoodrest. 　　5 　　SpringFestival 　　TheNewMoononthefirstdayofthenewyear--thefullmoon15dayslater 　　ClickhereformorewordsabouttheSpringFestival 　　ChineseNewYearstartswiththeNewMoon（新月）onthefirstdayofthenewyearandendsonthefullmoon（满月）15dayslater.The15thdayofthenewyeariscalledtheLanternFestival（元宵节）,whichiscelebratedatnightwithlanterndisplaysandchildrencarryinglanternsinaparade. 　　TheChinesecalendarisbasedonacombinationoflunarandsolarmovements.Thelunarcycle（月运周期）isabout29.5days.Inorderto"catchup"withthesolarcalendartheChineseinsertanextramonthonceeveryfewyears(sevenyearsoutofa19-yearcycle).Thisisthesameasaddinganextradayonleapyear（闰年）.Thisiswhy,accordingtothesolarcalendar,theChineseNewYearfallsonadifferentdateeachyear. 　　NewYear'sEveandNewYear'sDayarecelebratedasafamilyaffair,atimeofreunionandthanksgiving.ThecelebrationwastraditionallyhighlightedwithareligiousceremonygiveninhonorofHeavenandEarth（万物）,thegodsofthehouseholdandthefamilyancestors. 　　Thesacrifice