Factbox: Dos and don'ts for Chinese Lunar New Year
Factbox: Dos and don'ts for Chinese Lunar New Year
16:53, January 31, 2011 
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Firework and red couplets. Dumplings in China's north and glutinous rice cakes in the south. Red wrappings with cash for children. No haircut until the start of the second lunar month.
These are some of the dos and don'ts for the Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, the most important Chinese holiday that falls on Feb. 3 this year.
While the older generation of Chinese have strictly kept to these customs for decades, the young are also increasingly observant of the dos and don'ts amid a revival of traditional culture.
All in all, people hope the new year will bring them good luck, which is exactly what all these rules imply.
WHY FIREWORK, LANTERNS AND COUPLETS?
Most people stay up late on the eve of the Chinese New Year, watching TV, enjoying snacks and chatting with their family. Even if they don't, they are woken up by the loud bangs of firework at midnight -- if the sporadic firework sessions before 12 a.m. are not loud enough to stir the sound sleepers.
As a legend goes, Chinese ancestors were haunted by a monster named "nian" (meaning year) that left its mountain dwelling for human communities amid food shortages in winter to prey on men and cattle.
In the long run, people found out the monster was afraid of flames, bangs and red color. So they worked out firecrackers and lanterns to scare it away.
No one in China still believes such a monster actually existed, but the legend and customs have survived.
Today, Chinese families still hang up red lanterns and put up red couplets with rhymed phrases at their door, light fireworks and stay up late to watch the old year out.
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These are some of the dos and don'ts for the Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, the most important Chinese holiday that falls on Feb. 3 this year.
While the older generation of Chinese have strictly kept to these customs for decades, the young are also increasingly observant of the dos and don'ts amid a revival of traditional culture.
All in all, people hope the new year will bring them good luck, which is exactly what all these rules imply.
WHY FIREWORK, LANTERNS AND COUPLETS?
Most people stay up late on the eve of the Chinese New Year, watching TV, enjoying snacks and chatting with their family. Even if they don't, they are woken up by the loud bangs of firework at midnight -- if the sporadic firework sessions before 12 a.m. are not loud enough to stir the sound sleepers.
As a legend goes, Chinese ancestors were haunted by a monster named "nian" (meaning year) that left its mountain dwelling for human communities amid food shortages in winter to prey on men and cattle.
In the long run, people found out the monster was afraid of flames, bangs and red color. So they worked out firecrackers and lanterns to scare it away.
No one in China still believes such a monster actually existed, but the legend and customs have survived.
Today, Chinese families still hang up red lanterns and put up red couplets with rhymed phrases at their door, light fireworks and stay up late to watch the old year out.
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