中國文化博覽:中華民俗之貼窗花給紅包
Pasting Paper-cuts
貼窗花
Paper-cuts, usually with auspicious patterns, give a happy and prosperous atmosphere of the Festival and express the good wishes of Chinese people looking forward to a good life. In addition to pasting paper-cuts on windows, it is common for Chinese to paste the character "fu（福）", big and small, on walls, doors and doorposts around the houses. "Fu（福）" shows people's yearning toward a good life. Some people even invert the character "fu（福）" to signify that blessing has arrived because "inverted" is a homonym for "arrive" in Chinese. Now many kinds of paper-cuts and "fu（福）" can be seen in the market before the Festival.
通常帶有吉祥圖案的窗花傳遞節日喜慶和熱鬧的氣氛和表達中國人期待幸福生活的美好願望。除了貼窗花，在牆上，門上和房子周圍的門框上貼大小福字是中國人表達對美好生活渴望的普遍習俗。一些人甚至倒貼福字來表示福到了，因爲在漢語中“倒”是“到”的諧音。現在在春節前的市場上隨處可見各種各樣的窗花和福字。
Giving Hongbao
給紅包
Giving Hongbao (red packets or red envelopes) during the Chinese New Year is another tradition. A red packet is simply a red envelope with gift money in it, which symbolizes luck and wealth.
過春節的另一個傳統就是要給紅包，就是在一個紅色的小紅包裏裝上錢，寓意爲幸運和財富。
Red is the lucky color and will bring good luck to the person receiving the present. Red packets are symbolically handed out to younger generations by their parents, grandparents, relatives, close neighbors and friends, and usually the lineal family gives Hongbao to the children on New Year's Eve. Money given in this way may not be refused and the pretty envelopes make the present seem more amiability and sincere.
紅色是幸運色，能給收到紅包的人帶來好運。紅包一般是父母給兒女，爺爺奶奶給孫兒孫女，或者親戚朋友給小孩子的，一般來說，都是除夕夜給的。
The money is also called ya sui qian, meaning "money for suppressing age", which is supposed to stop children from getting older. This comes from the belief that everyone becomes one year older on New Year's Day.
這筆錢也稱作是壓歲錢，希望孩子們永遠不要長大，因爲大家都覺得一年一歲催人老。
Starting from the second day, people begin going out to visit friends and relatives, taking with them gifts and Hongbao for the children.
大年初一串親戚朋友，也要給孩子送禮物和紅包。
