Modern Spring Festival

Spring Festival is traditionally a time for family reunios in China, and millions of Chinese make every attempt to return to their hometown for the weeklong holiday. However, traveling abroad has become a new trend to celebrate the lunar New Year.

 

               guònián hǎo gōng xǐ fā cái
Xiao Lin: 过年好，恭喜发财！
               Happy New Year! May prosperity be with you.

             tóng xǐ tóng xǐ nǐ zài nǎrguò de nián
Da Wei: 同喜同喜，你在哪儿过的年？
             The same to you. wher did you celebrate your lunar New Year?

              wǒhuí lǎo jiā le nián wèir hěn nóng nǐ ne
Xiao Lin: 我回老家了，年味儿很浓，你呢？
             I went back to my hometown, and it was full of the New Year atmosphere there.
             How about you?

             wǒ men quán jiā qù le guó wài xiàn zài lǚ yóu guònián hěn liúxíng
Da Wei: 我们全家去了国外，现在旅游过年很流行。
             My whole family went abroad.
             Nowadays it is popular to travel during the Spring Festival.

The Character “年”(nián) appears many times in the dialogue. In ancient times, Nian was a vicious monster, which came out on the final day of each lunar year to destroy crops and injure people. People found that nian was terrified of the red color, flares and big sounds, so they put up red couplets of New Year’s wishes on the front door, hung red lanterns and lit firecrackers. In these ways, people remained untroubled by nian and began to describe the annual occasion as 过年(guònián), or literally “to survive the threat of nian”. Nowadays, 年means “year”. For example: 明年(next year), 新年(new year).

During the Spring Festival, people always greet each other with nice and auspicious sayings. The following idioms are popular choices for such greetings.

[wànshìrúyì] 万事如意Hope everything goes your way.
[suìsuìpíngān] 岁岁平安May you be safe and sound all year round.
[gōng xǐ fā cái] 恭喜发财May prosperity be with you.
[shēngyìxīnglóng] 生意兴隆Wish your business a great success.
[nián nián yǒu yú] 年年有余May you have surplus every year.
[yīfānfēngshùn] 一帆风顺Wish you smooth sailing in the year ahead.
[dàjídàlì] 大吉大利Wish you good fortune and every success.
[péng chéng wàn lǐ] 鹏程万里May you have a bright future.
[guótàimínān] 国泰民安May our country flourish and people live in peace.