空想城城主
yuandan is the first day of the lunar calendar. it is the day when the earth has circled the sun for one round and is beginning another circling. it represents a new beginning when people send off the old days and welcome the new ones. as the first day of the year, yuandan has been considered to be the most important festival since the ancient times. customs 1. kaisui(beginning of the year): according to the chinese traditional custom, starting from haishi(9p.m. to 11p.m.)of the last evening of the twelfth lunar month, each family must prepare offering s to deities at the altar. at the same time, they too prepare food for the new year day: the whole family will then stay awake together to attend to the year(called shou sui). after haishi, zishi(11p.m. to 1a.m.)will come, and this is the arrival of new year(yuandan). at this moment, people begin the celebration with fireworks. vegetarian and sweet foods will then be placed are the altar for offerings, and incense be burned to welcome the deities. in the ancient times, it was believed that haishi connected the two years and thus was called kaisui. at the same night, some families will follow the instruction in tongshu and place preparing altar in the direction of the "fortune deity" during the "fortune time" to receive the deity. if the direction of the "fortune deity" is at the "ill position", people will choose to receive "happy deity" or "noble deity" instead. 2. there is an apparent difference in the custom of food taking on yuandan between the chinese in the northern and southern regions. the northern chinese has the habit of taking jiao zi(dumpling made of flour with vegetable and meat wrapped inside). some people may put a sweet or a coin inside jiao zi, hoping to have a sweet year after tasting the sweet and a wealthy year after tasting the coin. on the other hand, the southern chinese have the taboo for killing on yuandan. therefore, they do not take meat in tee morning of yuandan, so as to avoid bloodshed or mutual slaughter. in order to evade misfortune, they have the first meal of this day without meat. instead, they take vegetarian food for the sake of virtue. 3. what is special during the new year is that parents or elders will distribute red packets(ang pao or ya sui qian)to the children. people in the ancient times were more particular in giving away the red packets: the distribution took place on the eve of new year so that the kids could suppress the past year and enter the new year. ya sui has the meaning of overcoming the unpredictable future. representing the wishes for the healthy psychological growth of the children, ya sui qian symbolises the elders' hope to see their children overcome all the unpredictable elements brought by the "year".
小不点儿淘气
Now it is more common to organize activities by groups, such as New Year's Eve parties, hanging banners celebrating New Year's Day, or holding collective activities. In the past, there were organizations beating gongs and drums and dancing national dance collectively. Now it can be seen on TV documentaries. Today, with the development of science and technology, it has evolved into a party or something.
现在比较普遍的.就是由团体组织的活动，如元旦联欢会、挂庆祝元旦的标语、或举行集体活动等，以前就有组织敲锣打鼓、集体跳民族舞的，现在在电视记录片上还能看到，到科技发展的今天，就演变为联欢晚会什么的了。
落跑蚂蚁
The ancients regarded the day when Emperor Shun offered sacriflces to heaven and earth and Emperor Yao as the beginning of a year.
大熊二的小熊大
1、Shards of cups and plates for friends
On the eve of New Year's Eve, Danes collect the fragments of cups and plates that they break, and send them to their friends'doors in the dead of the night. On the morning of New Year's Day, the more debris piled up in front of one's house, the more friends his family has, the luckier the New Year must be.
2、Eating GrapeAtMid-night
The Spaniards were reunited on New Year's Eve. By 12 o'clock, with the church bell as the sign, grapes are scrambled to eat. Every time the bell strikes, one grape must be eaten, and 12 grapes must be eaten in succession, indicating that the next year will be smooth sailing.
3、Women sit on the market bench
The West Germans celebrate New Year's Day with a comedy about women's seizure of power. In many places, women flocked into the city hall, broke into the mayor's office and sat on the bench to take over the mayor's power.
中文：
1、杯盘碎片送朋友
丹麦人在元旦前夜，家家户户都要将平时打碎的杯盘碎片收集起来，待夜深人静时偷偷地送至朋友家的门前。元旦的早晨，如果谁家门前堆放的碎片越多，则说明他家的朋友越多，新年一定很幸运。
2、深更半夜吃葡萄
西班牙人在元旦前夜全家团聚。到12点时，以教堂钟声为号，争着吃葡萄，每敲一下钟，必须吃下一颗葡萄，而且要连着吃下12颗，表示来年一帆风顺。
3、妇女坐上市长椅
西德人过元旦，要表演妇女夺权的喜剧。许多地方的妇女成群结队地冲进市政府大厅，闯入市长办公室，坐上市长办公椅，表示接管市长权力。
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