1. Principal Designer: Xianfeng Mou Polisher: Chao-Mei Tu

2.  二月八日.  今年是鼠年 The Year of the Rat （十二生肖是： 鼠, 牛, 虎, 兔, 龙, 蛇, 马, 羊, 猴, 鸡, 狗, 猪 ) (shu3,niu2,hu3,tu4,long2,she2,ma3,yang2, hou2,ji1,gou3, zhu1

3.  一月一日 — 一月十五日 （ lunar calendar) Chinese New Year starts with the New Moon （新月） on the first day of the new year and ends on the full moon （满月） 15 days later. The 15th day of the new year is called the Lantern Festival （元宵节）, which is celebrated at night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.

4.  Most Chinese take the time to visit their relatives and invite friends to dinner to celebrate the festivals’

5. The origin of the Chinese New Year is too old to be traced. One explanation has it that the word Nian, which in modern Chinese solely means "year", was originally the name of a monster beast that started to prey on people the night before the beginning of a new year.  The story of Nian: The beast Nian had a very big mouth that would swallow many people, which of course scared them…...

6.  Before the old man left, he had told people to put up red paper decorations on their windows and doors at each year's end to scare away Nian in case it sneaked back again, because red is the color the beast feared the most.

7.  The term "Guo Nian " becomes today "Celebrate the (New) Year" as the word "guo" in Chinese having both the meaning of "pass- over" and "observe".

8.  The custom of putting up red paper and firing fire-crackers to scare away Nian should it run loose is still around.

9.  Some foods are favored for their auspicious sounds.  Lots of people go to restaurants to have their celebration dinners.  In the north, small meat dumplings (jiaozi 饺子 ) and steamed-wheat bread (man tou 馒头 ) are preferred food. The tremendous amount of food symbolizes abundance and wealth for the household.

10.  Other foods include a whole fish, to represent togetherness and abundance, and a chicken for prosperity.  The chicken must be presented with a head, tail and feet to symbolize completeness. Noodles should be uncut, as they represent long life.

11.  In south China, the favorite and most typical dishes were nian gao, sweet steamed glutinous rice （糯米） pudding and zong zi (glutinous rice wrapped up in reed （芦苇） leaves), another popular delicacy.

12. Harmony brings wealthWishing you every success

13. Wishing you prosperityTreasures fill the homePeace all year round May all your wishes come true Everything goes well Promoting to a higher position

14.  过年好！ ɡ uò nián h ǎ o Happy New Year!  新年好！ xīn nián h ǎ o  新年快乐！ xīn nián kuài lè Happy New Year!  恭喜，恭喜。 Congratulations!  恭喜发财！ɡ ōn ɡ x ǐ fā cái I wish You Great Prosperity!  鼠年吉祥！ sh ǔ nián jí xiáng Good Luck in the Year of the Rat!

15.  A traditional song http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7laBfy89qK8  CCTV Spring Festival Celebration (not yet out, New Year file) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j9n6ci4Zsb8  Beijing fireworks (07 file) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQiwK35HvO4  Traditionally, the Chinese also go to temple fairs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGQRNzrCg5c&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGQRNzrCg5c&feature=related (old file)  Shanghai and Guangzhou fireworks (07 files) http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=shanghai+spring+fe stival&search=Search http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-XW_CyT7BeM&feature=related

16.  Taiwan Spring Festival 1, 2, 3 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW9a9SsChQ4http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW9a9SsChQ4 (accessed 1.29.08) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq2oLF2JVrY&feature=rel atedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xq2oLF2JVrY&feature=rel ated (accessed 1.29.08) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Tyq0OhgEc&feature=re latedhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Tyq0OhgEc&feature=re lated (accessed 1.29.08)  From Discovery Channel, complete, recommended

17.  Hong Kong fireworks http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChMC_sYVXzE  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1IulShbvuw&feature= related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1IulShbvuw&feature= related

18.  Gifts not to be sent include zhong 钟， which sounds like death ， xie 鞋, means secretly giving somebody a hard time, or four items of gifts because si 四, also sounds like death.

19.  http://www.echineselearning.com/chinese- nehtmw-year-2008.html#date http://www.echineselearning.com/chinese- nehtmw-year-2008.html#date  http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/ 2004-01/19/content_359389. http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/english/doc/ 2004-01/19/content_359389  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW9a9Ss ChQ4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nW9a9Ss ChQ4  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Tyq0O hgEc&feature=related http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G5Tyq0O hgEc&feature=related  Accessed 1.28.08 and 1.29.08