春节

春节 Chūnjié — 春 chūn (spring) + 节 jié (festival; node; seasonal marker). The Spring Festival marks the transition from the last days of winter to the beginning of spring according to the traditional lunar calendar. The official name in mainland China since 1949; Taiwan and overseas Chinese communities often say 農曆新年 Nónglì Xīnnián (Lunar New Year) or simply 新年 Xīnnián.

Spring Festival falls on the first day of the first lunar month (typically late January to mid-February in the Gregorian calendar). The celebrations extend for 15 days, culminating in the Lantern Festival 元宵节 Yuánxiāo Jié on the 15th day of the first lunar month — the first full moon of the new year. In practice, the core celebrations center on the days immediately before and after the New Year's Eve (除夕 Chúxī).

The world's largest annual human migration occurs during the 春运 Chūnyún (Spring Festival travel rush) — hundreds of millions of people travel home to be with family. The economic and logistical scale is staggering: an estimated 3+ billion trips in the weeks surrounding the holiday. 过年回家 guò nián huí jiā — "going home to celebrate the New Year" — is a fundamental obligation of Chinese family life.

红色 hóngsè (red) is the defining color — doors, lanterns, clothing, envelopes, and decorations are all red, the color that drives away evil and attracts good fortune. 对联 duìlián (Spring Festival couplets) are red paper scrolls with lucky phrases, pasted on either side of the front door. 福 fú (good fortune) is pasted on doors, often upside-down — 倒 dào (upside-down) sounds like 到 dào (to arrive), so 福到了 "fortune has arrived."

红包 hóngbāo (red envelopes with money gifts) are given by married adults to unmarried younger family members — the gift carries good wishes for health and luck in the new year. Digital 红包 via WeChat has transformed the practice: billions of digital red envelopes are sent on New Year's Eve, often accompanied by games and lucky-draw mechanics.

鞭炮 biānpào (firecrackers) and fireworks serve the ritual function of driving away evil (including the mythological 年 Nián beast) with noise and light. Many Chinese cities have banned firecrackers within city limits for safety and pollution reasons — a shift that generates annual debate about preserving tradition.

Spring Festival taboos reflect the principle that how you begin the year sets the tone for the year. Common taboos during the first days: do not sweep or take out garbage (you will sweep away your luck 运气). Do not wash your hair on New Year's Day (you will wash away your fortune). Do not use scissors or knives (you will cut your luck). Do not break anything (broken objects signal broken relationships or broken luck — though you can say 碎碎平安 suì suì píng'ān "broken broken peace" as a counter-charm, since 碎 suì sounds like 岁 suì "year").

Avoid unlucky language: do not say 死 sǐ (death), 倒 dǎo (to fall, collapse — though 倒 dào "upside-down" is lucky), 穷 qióng (poor), 坏 huài (bad/broken). Instead: health (健康), wealth (发财), luck (好运), longevity (长寿). Even the number 4 (四 sì, sounds like 死 death) is avoided — hotel floors skip from 3 to 5 in many Chinese buildings.