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要说为什么中国的孩子们喜欢春节？

Why do Chinese children like Chinese Festival?

其一是，中国的春节一般在一月或二月，和学校的寒假正好重合了。寒假一般有一个多月，所以很多孩子会和家人在春节期间旅游。

One of the reasons is, Chinese Festival usually coincide with the winter holiday of schools, which is in January and February. The winter holiday usually lasts for more than one month, hence many children will go for vacation during Chinese Festival.

不过再长的假期，也比不过拿压岁钱的兴奋！

No matter how long the holiday is, it cannot exceed the excitement of getting the Lucky Money (Ya Sui Qian)!

如果你喜欢熬夜，那么守岁一定是你最喜欢的春节习俗之一。

If you are a night owl, then ‘shousui’ must be your favorite CNY ritual.

除夕的夜晚，家人们会愉快的聊天到第二天，等待春节的到来。

On the eve of Chinese New Year, families would stay up late and chat until the next day, welcoming the new year.

听起来很无聊吗？

Sounds boring?

不用担心！自从1983年以来，除夕的夜晚有春节联欢晚会陪伴你！

Do not need to worry! Because as of 1983, there is the New Year’s Gala accompanying you!

春节联欢晚会，简称“春晚”，一般从除夕傍晚8点到春节凌晨12点半在电视上播放。它包含了歌舞，相声，小品等各式各样的节目，让“守岁”充满了欢声笑语。

除了门神，春节的门窗边还会出现几张写着字的[红纸]。

Except for door gods, there are also pieces of red paper with writings on them by doors and windows during the Chinese Festival.

在很久以前的，人们用的是[桃木板]，上面刻上神荼、郁垒两位[神仙]的名字，目的是吓跑鬼怪。所以春联又被称为“桃符”。

A long time ago, people used mahogany boards instead, with names of two gods, Shen Tu and Yu Lei, engraved. The purpose of them is to scare off ghosts. Hence, Chun Lian (Spring Festival Couplets) are also called Tao Fu.

到了宋代，人们才开始在象征[喜庆]的红纸上写[对联]，叫做“春联”。它们既[沿袭]了[传统]，又表达了对来年的[心愿]。

春节期间，你可能会看到在一些地方的门上贴着两张虎目圆睁1、披盔戴甲2 的男人的画。

During Spring Festival, you may see portrays of two fierce-looking men outside of the main doors in some places.

他们被叫做“门神”。

These two men are called “door gods”.

现在，我们常见的门神分别被叫做秦琼和尉迟恭。他们是中国唐朝皇帝唐太宗的两个将军3。

Nowadays, the door gods we see are called Qin Qiong and Yuchi Gong. They are two generals of Emperor Tai Zong of the Tang Dynasty.

相传4，唐太宗有一次生病，被梦魇5所扰，彻夜6不得安宁，于是他便命两位将军手持武器于门外镇守，结果第二天夜里就睡了个好觉。

Now that we have began our days into the New Year of 2019, the Chinese are starting to prepare for the Chinese New Year.
If you have been visiting supermarkets, you will realise that they have already began selling all the Chinese New Year goodies and products are being packaged in the signature RED packagings.

As the Chinese New Year follows the lunar calendar, it changes every year. This year, Chinese New Year 2019 in Singapore will begin on Tuesday, 5 February. This is perhaps why many of the stores are already well underway in its preparations.

春节还有不到一个月就要来了！我们来一起学习春节的各种习俗吧！

CNY is less than a month away! Let’s learn the various customs of the Spring Festival.

““除尘”就是打扫房屋。这个传统可以追溯到几千年前。按照习俗，除尘的日期一般是农历腊月廿四日，也是今年的公历1月29日。

‘chuchen’ means house cleaning. This ritual can be traced back thousands of years ago. According to the ritual, house cleaning usually takes place on 24th Dec of the Agricultural calendar, which falls on 29th Jan this year.

在新年前，各家各户会进行大扫除，把房间的每个角落彻底地打扫得干干净净。

Before CNY, every family will do a thorough cleaning, do not leave any corner unattended.

美方将派代表团与本月7日和8日访问北京。这是自中美双方在G20会议后第一次面对面协商。

The US is sending a delegation team to Beijing on 7th and 8th Jan. This negotiation will be the first face-to-face of the two countries since the G20.

在G20会议上，双方领导人同意暂停征收更多关税。但是在过去的一个月里，中国华为在他国市场碰壁、美国苹果手机销量下降等等新闻依旧意味着双方需要尽快商讨一个切实可行的解决方式，否则两国的经济很可能会都会受到负面影响，两败俱伤。

It is now 2019!! Happy New Year all!
When it comes to the New Year, we will definitely think about New Year Resolutions, which in Chinese is 新年计划 (xīnnián jìhuà).

Let's explore some of the common New Year Resolutions in Chinese.

1. To exercise more: 多运动 (duō yùndòng)

2. To lose weight: 减肥。(jiǎnféi.)

3. To eat healthier: 饮食健康 (yǐnshí jiànkāng)

The new year is already here, will Chinese New Year be far?

2019年的农历新年，或春节，是公历2月5日，距离现在还有34天。

The Chinese new year of Agricultural calendar of 2019, or spring festival, is 5th February of the Gregorian calendar, 34 days from today.

华人庆祝两个新年，公历新年（元旦）和农历新年（春节）。

Chinese celebrate two new year days, Gregorian calendar new year and Agricultural calendar new year.

在大多数华人人的眼里，春节比元旦更重要，因为它记载着中华人民五千年以来的传统。中国各地的传统并不完全一样，不过一些比较典型并广为人知的包括舞狮、贴春联、放烟花、给红包等等。

因为预算僵局（jiāngjú. Stalemate），美国政府部分部门关闭已将近一周。在此期间，特朗普和民主党都是严守阵地（yánshǒuzhèndì. Strongly hold the base），寸步不让（cùnbùbúràng. Do not back off even an inch of step; do not compromise）。

Due to the budget hold-up, partial US government branches have been shut down for almost a week. During this period, both Trump and the Democratic party has been standing by their decisions without compromise.

围绕美墨边境墙的57亿美元预算问题，国会和白宫谈掰（tánbāi. Cannot reach an agreement）了。