Papercuts During Spring festival, many families decorate the window panes of their houses with pleasant-looking papercuts portraying Chinese opera characters, flowers, birds, insects and fish.

New Year Couplets New Year couplets, written on strips of red paper, are a major part of the Chinese Spring Festival custom. On the lunar New Year's Eve, families in urban and rural areas alike make it a point to grace their gate posts or door panels with couplets composed of two sentences which match each other in sound and sense to express their cherished wishes.

New Year's Paintings New Year's paintings are a branch of Chinese fold art which draws inspirations from such things as bumper harvests, prosperity, landscape, flowers and birds, buffaloes, and babies. During the festival the Chinese love to pin up a few New Year's paintings on their living room walls to bid farewell to the old year and greet the new.

Greeting Cards Sending New year's greeting cards to each other is yet another part of Chinese tradition. During the period from New year's Day to the lunar Spring Festival, many people would buy finely printed greeting cards and send them to friends and loved ones as a token of good will.

Candles During the period from Spring Festival to Lantern Festival, as well as on other red-letter days, the Chinese of various ethnic origins love to light bright-colored candles as an expression of their joyful mood.

Staying Up on New Year's Eve On the lunar New Year's Eve the Chinese gather for the family reunion dinner. Afterwards they would stay up late or all night to see the old year out and the New Year in.

Jiaozi, Jiaozi, or dumpling, is a typical Chinese food. It is the habits of people living in north China to celebrate festivals by making and eating dumplings. On New Year's Eve entire families would gather to chat while preparing dumplings.

Firecrackers The Chinese have the habit of celebrating Spring Festival by letting off firecrackers or holding fireworks displays. As a result the night sky is beatified by a riot of color and acquires an ethereal quality.