Chinese spring festival is Chinese new year, which is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays in China. In Chinese name it is called 春节（Chūnjié），since the spring season in Chinese calendar starts with lichun, the first solar term in a Chinese calendar year. It marks the end of the winter season, analogous to the Western Carnival.
Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon（新月xīn yuè）on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon（满月mǎn yuè）15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival（元宵节Yuánxiāo jié）, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.
The Chinese calendar is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements. The lunar cycle（月运周期yu yùn zhōuqī ）is about 29.5 days. In order to “catch up” with the solar calendar the Chinese insert an extra month once every few years (seven years out of a 19-yearcycle). This is the same as adding an extra day on leap year （闰年rùn nián ）. This is why, according to the solar calendar, the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year.
New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving. The celebration was traditionally highlighted with a religious ceremony given in honor of Heaven and Earth（万物wàn wù）, the gods of the household and the family ancestors.
The sacrifice to the ancestors, the most vital of all the rituals（仪式yí shì）, united the living members with those who had passed away. Departed relatives are remembered with great respect because they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune and glory of the family.
The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year’s Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called “surrounding the stove” or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.
Chinese New Year is the longest and most important festivity in the Chinese calendar. Chinese New Year is celebrated in China and in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, including Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore,Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Taiwan, Mauritius, Philippines, and also in Chinatowns elsewhere. Chinese New Year is considered a major holiday for the Chinese and has had influence on the lunar new year celebrations of its geographic neighbors.
