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| The Laba Festival |
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| The Laba Festival falls on the eighth day of the twelfth lunar month. This holiday may be traced back to the ancient Chinese custom of sacrificing game to the ancestors during the last month of the lunar year. |
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| House Cleaning |
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| Between Laba Festival, on the eighth day of the last lunar month, and Little New Year, on the twenty-third day, families throughout China undertake a thorough house cleaning, sweeping out the old in preparation for the New Year. |
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| Little New Year |
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| Little New Year, which falls about a week before the lunar New Year, is also known as the Festival of the Kitchen God, the deity who oversees the moral character of each household. |
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| Sacrifice to the Kitchen God |
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| The 23rd day of the 12th lunar month is called Preliminary Eve, or xiaonian. It is the day when people offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God. |
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| The New Year's Eve - Reunion Dinner |
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| A reunion dinner is held on New Year's Eve where members of the family, near and far, get together for celebration.The New Year's Eve dinner is very large and traditionally includes chicken. |
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| The Second Festival Day |
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| On the second day of the New Year, it is traditional for married women to pay a visit to their mother's home for a reunion with their family. |
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| First Day of the New Year |
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| New Year's day is also celebrated within the family. Usually family members gather on the morning of New Year's Day. It is at this gathering that red packets are given to unmarried members of the family. |
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| Broken Five |
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| After "Broken Five," normal household tasks such as cooking can be taken up again. Usually the first thing that people make is jiaozi (stuffed dumplings). |
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| Lantern Festival |
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| The Lantern Festival falls on the 15th day of the 1st lunar month, usually in February or March in the Gregorian calendar. |
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| Gaoqiao in Northern China |
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| Cai Gaoqiao, is a popular traditional performance of the Spring Festival,especially in Northern China. |
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| Yangge in Shaanxi |
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| Yangge is a representative collective folk dance that combines music, dance and feats, by manipulations of the silk handkerchiefs and movements of the feet. |
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