What is the New Year's Eve? What is the exact time of the celebration?

There are two meanings to the observance of the New Year: the elderly observing the New Year as "resignation of the old year", which means cherishing the time; and the young observing the New Year to prolong the life of their parents. Since the Han Dynasty, the time of the transition between the old and new year is usually the middle of the night. The whole world looks forward to the arrival of New Year's zero hour.

The specific time for the New Year's Eve is the 30th day of the new year, which is also known as "New Year's Eve". On this day, it is a day for people to eat, drink, play and have fun. People in the north make dumplings and people in the south make rice cakes. Dumplings are shaped like "Yuanbao" and rice cakes sound like "Nian Gao", both of which are good omens of good luck.

The custom of observing the New Year's Eve is both a farewell to the passing years and a hope for the coming New Year. Ancient people wrote in a poem of "keeping the New Year's Eve": "We are invited to keep the New Year's Eve at A Rong's house, and the wax torch passes the red to the blue yarn; thirty-six years are all wasted, and we cherish the years from this night." Cherishing years is a common human feeling, so Su Shi, a great poet, wrote the famous lines of the New Year's Eve: "Will there be no year next year, and I am afraid of wasting my time; I will make every effort to do my best this evening, and the youth can still be boasted!" This shows the positive significance of the New Year's Eve celebration.

In order to commemorate this victory, every winter time, every household will stick red paper couplets on the door, hang lanterns, beat gongs and drums, and set off firecrackers and fireworks; at night, they will keep vigil all night; and the next day, they will congratulate each other early in the morning. This has been passed down from generation to generation, and it has become "New Year's Eve".