Spring Festival, mooncakes, red envelopes and zodiac animals: talking about Chinese festivals and customs.
30 sentences · 3 dialogues · 18 words
The great festivals follow the lunar calendar and shape the whole year: the Spring Festival with the journey home, the Mid-Autumn Festival with mooncakes, the Dragon Boat Festival with rice dumplings. Being invited to celebrate one is a sign of real friendship.
This page gives the greetings, the customs and the questions people will ask you — what your zodiac animal is, whether you are going home for New Year — so that you can join in rather than just watch.
Goals by level. Tick what you can already do — the tick stays in this browser only.
18 words from the word lists, ordered by level. A coloured edge shows what you have already practised.
Short dialogues to read along and repeat. Say one part first, then the other.
A classmate asks where you will spend the holiday.
春节你回国吗？Are you going home for the Spring Festival?
不回，我想在中国过年。No, I want to spend New Year in China.
那来我家吧！我们一起吃年夜饭。Then come to my family’s! We’ll have New Year’s Eve dinner together.
真的吗？我应该带什么礼物？Really? What present should I bring?
带点儿水果就行，别太客气。Some fruit is fine — don’t go to too much trouble.
太好了，谢谢你和你的家人！Wonderful — thank you, and thank your family!
On New Year’s Day you visit a friend’s grandmother.
奶奶，新年好！祝您身体健康！Happy New Year! I wish you good health!
好孩子！来，这是给你的红包。What a good child! Here, this red envelope is for you.
谢谢奶奶！Thank you!
今年好好学习啊。Study hard this year.
我一定努力！I certainly will!
Over lunch, a colleague asks about your year of birth.
你属什么？What’s your zodiac animal?
我属马。你呢？I’m a Horse. And you?
我属羊，比你小一岁。I’m a Goat — a year younger than you.
今年是你的本命年吗？Is this year your zodiac year?
不是，明年才是。No, that’s next year.
听说本命年要穿红衣服。I’ve heard you should wear red in your zodiac year.
The label says where a sentence belongs. The speaker next to it reads it aloud.
新年快乐！Happy New Year!
祝你生日快乐！Happy birthday!
今天是我的生日。Today is my birthday.
恭喜恭喜！Congratulations!
我很喜欢中国音乐。I really like Chinese music.
你会包饺子吗？Can you make dumplings?
这是送给你的礼物。This is a present for you.
祝你身体健康！I wish you good health!
你太客气了，谢谢！You shouldn’t have — thank you!
你属什么？What’s your zodiac animal?
我属龙。I was born in the Year of the Dragon.
我对中国书法很感兴趣。I’m very interested in Chinese calligraphy.
春节是中国最重要的节日。The Spring Festival is the most important festival in China.
过年的时候，家家户户都贴春联。At New Year every household puts up couplets on the door.
除夕晚上全家人一起吃年夜饭。On New Year’s Eve the whole family has dinner together.
长辈会给孩子发红包。The older relatives give the children red envelopes.
中秋节的时候大家一边吃月饼，一边赏月。At the Mid-Autumn Festival people eat mooncakes and look at the moon.
端午节有吃粽子、划龙舟的习俗。At the Dragon Boat Festival it’s the custom to eat rice dumplings and race dragon boats.
中秋节是家人团圆的日子。The Mid-Autumn Festival is a day for families to be together.
新年好！给您拜年了！Happy New Year! My best wishes for the year!
庙会上有很多传统小吃。There are lots of traditional snacks at the temple fair.
红包最好不要当面打开。It’s better not to open a red envelope in front of the giver.
送礼的时候不要送钟。Don’t give a clock as a present.
春节前后火车票特别难买。Around the Spring Festival, train tickets are very hard to get.
我第一次看舞狮，太热闹了！It was my first time seeing a lion dance — so lively!
中国有悠久的历史和丰富的文化。China has a long history and a rich culture.
很多传统节日都和农历有关。Many traditional festivals are linked to the lunar calendar.
这个习俗是从古代流传下来的。This custom has been handed down since ancient times.
随着时代的变化，过年的方式也在变。As times change, the way people celebrate New Year is changing too.
在中国，数字八被认为很吉利。In China the number eight is considered lucky.
6 questions on the words and sentences of this field. The word questions count in your progress like any other exercise.
Read the meaning, say the sentence aloud in Chinese, then open it to compare.
新年快乐！
祝你身体健康！
除夕晚上全家人一起吃年夜饭。
红包最好不要当面打开。
Every sentence on this page was written for EveryLingua. There are no quotations from films, series, books or songs here, and no titles or names of artists — the page shows how people talk in this field, not what somebody once said.
