Countdown Calendar for Spring Festival: Stay up all night

The countdown to the Spring Festival usually starts on the 23rd day of the twelfth month of the lunar year, when Chinese people get busier with preparations for the festival and observe traditional folk customs in the country.

People's Daily Online will introduce you to a traditional folk custom of the Spring Festival via a short video and a poster every day.

The last day of the twelfth lunar month is called Chinese New Year's Eve. It is a day for ringing out the old year and ringing in the new.

People who are away from home all return to their homes to enjoy a family reunion on Chinese New Year's Eve, when a hearty dinner is prepared in every family, and family members usually sit together to enjoy the meal wearing festive red clothes, light up red lanterns, and stay up all night.

According to folklore, the reason why people stay up all night on Chinese New Year's Eve is that they have to try to drive away a monster called Nian (year). The monster was believed to hurt people in villages during the eve of the new year.

People learned that Nian was afraid of lights and loud sounds, so they hung red lanterns, made fires, created loud sounds and used firecrackers to scare off the monster.

Nowadays, people start to set off firecrackers and eat dumplings after 12 p.m. on New Year's Eve to say goodbye to the past year and signal prosperity and good fortune in the new.

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