春节

春节庆祝活动是一年中最重要的庆祝活动。中国人庆祝春节的方式可能略微不同，但其愿望几乎是相同的，他们希望其家人和朋友来年健康和幸运。春节庆祝活动通常持续15天。庆祝活动包括春节的年夜饭，放鞭炮，给儿童压岁钱，春节钟声和春节问候。大多数中国人将在春节的第7天停止庆祝活动，因为全国性节假通常在这一天结束，但在公共场所的庆祝活动可能最终持续到正月十五。

Chinese New Year Celebration is the most important celebration of the year. Chinese people may celebrate the Chinese New Year in slightly different ways but their wishes are almost the same; they want their family members and friends to be healthy and lucky during next year.Chinese New Year Celebration usually lasts for 15 days. Celebratory activities include Chinese New Feast, firecrackers, giving lucky money to children, the New Year bell ringing and Chinese New Year Greetings. Most of Chinese people won’t stop the celebrating in their home until the 7th day of New Year because the national holiday usually ends around that day. However, celebrations in public areas can last until the 15th day of New Year.

清明节

清明节的习俗是丰富有趣的，除了讲究禁火、扫墓，还有踏青、荡秋千、蹴鞠、打马球、插柳等一系列风俗体育活动。相传这是因为清明节要寒食禁火，为了防止寒食冷藏伤身，所以大家来参加一些体育活动，以锻炼身体。因此，这个节日既有祭扫新坟生别死离得悲酸泪，又有踏青游玩的欢笑声，是一个富有特色的节日。

Ching Ming Festival (the Tomb-sweeping Festival), the custom is full of interesting. In addition to pay attention to ban fire, tomb-sweeping, as well as spring outing, swinging, Cuju, playing polo, Liu inserted a series of custom sports. According to legend, this is because the Ching Ming Festival to Cold Food Observance ban fire, in order to prevent the Cold Food Observance buffet beverages, so we come to participate in some sports, in order to exercise. Therefore, this festival which has both the acid tears of sorrow for the died and the laughter from the players, is a distinctive holiday.

元宵节

与大多数中国节日一样，元宵节同样有自己的特色小吃，成为“汤圆”(也叫“元宵”)。汤圆外形圆圆的，外皮由糯米制成，内陷或甜或辣。人们都说汤圆有两个象征之意，一为农历的第一个月圆，二为家庭团聚圆满。元宵节传统习俗中还有一部分是关于猜灯谜的游戏。在过去，这些谜语大多出自于模糊的文学典故和中国古典文学之中，所以猜灯谜以前多为知识份子的“领地”。踩高跷，敲大鼓和舞龙狮也是元宵节主要的娱乐活动。

Like most Chinese festivals, the Lantern Festival has its own special food, called “tang yuan”. These are round, glutinous rice dumplings with sweet or spicy fillings. The dumplings are said to symbolize both the first full moon and family utility and completeness. Part of the lantern festival tradition involves a game to guess riddles attached to the lanterns. In the old days the riddles were obscure literary allusions to the Chinese classics and so were mainly the preserve of the educated classes. Stilt-walking, drumming and dragon and lion dancing are the main entertainment forms of the Lantern Festival.

端午节

端午节，又叫龙舟节，是为了纪念爱国诗人屈原。屈原是一位忠诚和受人敬仰的大臣(minister),他给国家带来了和平和繁荣。但最后因为受到诽谤(vilify)而最终投河自尽。人们撑船到他自尽的地方，抛下粽子，希望鱼儿吃粽子，不要吃屈原的身躯。几千年来，端午节的特色在于吃粽子(glutinous dumplings)和赛龙舟，尤其是在一些河湖密布的南方省份。

The Duan Wu Festival, also called the Dragon Boat Festival, is to commemorate the patriotic poet Qu Yuan. Qu Yuan was a loyal and highly esteemed minister, who brought peace and prosperity to the state but ended up drowning himself in a river as a result of being vilified.People got to the spot by boat and cast glutinous dumplings into the water,hoping that the fishes ate the dumplings instead of Qu Yuan’s body. For thousands of years, the festival has been marked by glutinous dumplings and dragon boat races, especially in the southern provinces where there are many rivers and lakes.

中秋节

农历八月十五日是中国的传统节日——中秋节。在这天，每个家庭都团聚在一起，一家人共同观赏象征丰裕、和谐和好运的圆月。此时，大人们尽情吃着美味的月饼，品着热腾腾的香茗，而孩子们则在一旁拉着明亮的兔子灯尽情玩耍。月宫里美丽的仙女嫦娥的神话故事赋予了这个节日神话色彩。传说古时候，天空曾有10个太阳围着地球旋转。后翌射下了其中9个太阳，拯救了地球上的生灵。他偷了长生不老药，却被妻子嫦娥偷偷喝下，从而产生了嫦娥奔月的故事。

The Mid-Autumn Festival falls on the 15th day of the 8thmonth of the lunar month. It is a time for family members to congregate andenjoy the full moon, which is a symbol of abundance, harmony and luck. Adultsusually indulge in fragrant mooncakes of various kinds with a good cup of hotChinese tea, while the children run around with their brightly-lit rabbitlanterns. The festival was endowed a mythological flavour with legends ofChang-E, the beautiful lady in the moon. According to Chinese mythology, theearth once had 10 suns circling over it. Hou Yi, shot down 9 of the suns tosave all the lives on carth. He stole the elixir of life, which can make peopleimmortal. However, his wife, Chang-E drank it. Thus the legend of Chang-Eflying into the moon came into being.

七夕节

七夕节(Double Seventh Festival)是中国最具浪漫色彩的传统节日。每年农历(lunar calendar)七月初七就是七夕节，亦称“乞巧节”。七夕节起源于中国古代牛郎(Cowherd)和织女(Weaver Maid)的爱情神话，他们的故事感动了一代又一代的中国人。许多有情男女会在七夕的晚上祈祷自己的姻缘美满，期望“有情人终成眷属”。近年来，越来越多的都市青年男女把这个节日当作“中国情人节”(Chinese Valentine's Day)

The Double Seventh Festival is the most romantictraditional Chinese festival. Also known as "Qiqiao Festival" itfalls annually on the 7th day of the 7th month of the lunar calendar. Thefestival came from an ancient Chinese romantic fairy tale about the Cowherd andthe Weaver Maid, which has deeply moved generations of Chinese people. Many menand women in love usually pray for a happy marriage on that night, hoping for"a happy ending for true love". In recent yean, more and more youthsin cities celebrate the Double Seventh Festival as Chinese Valentine's Day.

重阳节

中国的重阳节(Double Ninth Festival)由来已久。人们普遍认为重阳节源于“辟邪”（warding off evil）。这一天的活动，包括登山、赏菊(chrysanthemum)、喝菊花酒等。随着时间的推移，它变成了一个庆祝的节日。这天，家人团聚在一起，也会纪念家族的祖先。1989年，我国把这一天定为老人节(Seniors' Day)，表达我们对老人的尊敬与爱戴，使这个节日在新的历史时期继续发挥文化传承的作用。

The Double Ninth Festival in China has a long history. It is widelybelieved that the festival came from the activities of "warding offevil" on that day, including climbing hills, appreciating chrysanthemumsand drinking chrysanthemum wine. Over time it became a day of celebration. Onthis day, people come together for family reunion and remember their ancestors.In 1989, the Chinese govenunent made this day Seniors' Day to show our respectand love to the elder people. This festival, therefore, continues to play a rolein carrying on culture in the new era.

教师节

在中国，9月10日的教师节(Teacher's Day)是一个很重要的节日。这一天，人们用各种方式表达对教师的敬意。近年来，许多专家一直希望变更教师节的日期。一些研究中国传统文化的学者提出，教师节应该有其历史文化内涵。不久前，相关部门拟将教师节改至9月28日。那天被认为是孔子(Confucius)诞辰日。作为“先时”(First Teacher)，孔子是中国历史上最重要的教育家及哲学家。

In China, the Teacher's Day on the September 10 is an important day onwhich people express their respect to their teachers tn a variety of ways. Forsome recent years, many experts have been hoping to change the date ofTeacher's Day. Some scholars in traditional Chinese culture suggested that theTeachers' Day should have historical and cultural associations. Not long ago,the department concerned considered moving Teachers' Day to Sept 28, which isbelieved to be the birthday of Confucius. As the First Teacher, Confucius isthe most important educationalist and philosopher in Chinese history.

来源：北京新向标英语