Which of Lao She's articles are about New Year's Eve

Lao She's Spring Festival in Beijing~

According to the old rules in Beijing, the Spring Festival begins almost at the beginning of the Lunar New Year. "On the seventh day of the Lunar New Year, the cold crows freeze to death", which is the coldest time of the year. On the eighth day of the lunar month, every family boils congee (zhōu) for the eighth day of the lunar month. The congee is made from various kinds of rice, beans, and dried fruits. This is not a porridge, but a small agricultural fair.

On top of that, on this day, garlic is brewed. The garlic cloves are put in vinegar and sealed for dumplings for the New Year. By the end of the year, the garlic soaked as emerald color, vinegar also has some spicy flavor, color and taste double beautiful, so people can not help but eat a few more dumplings. In Beijing, every family eats dumplings on New Year's Day.

The first big thing that children do to prepare for New Year's is to buy a mixer. This is made of peanuts, jujubes, hazelnuts, chestnuts and other dried fruits mixed with candied fruit (jiàn) and (chān). Children like to eat these bits and pieces. The second most important thing is to buy firecrackers, especially for the boys. I'm afraid the third thing is to buy all kinds of things -- kites, firecrackers, harmonica, etc.

While the children are happy, the adults are busy. They must prepare the food, drink, clothing and supplies for the New Year, so that they will be able to show the weather of renewal in the New Year.

The 23rd day of the Lunar New Year is almost a "dress rehearsal" for the Spring Festival. As soon as it gets dark, the firecrackers go off, and there is a taste of the New Year. On this day, it is necessary to eat sugar, the street early a lot of maltose and jiangmai sugar sellers, sugar shape or rectangular or melon shape, sweet and sticky (nián), the children's favorite.

After the twenty-third day, everyone was even busier. They have to clean up once, and prepare enough meat, chicken, fish, vegetables, rice cakes and so on - most stores close from the first to the fifth of the first month, and don't open until the sixth of the first month.

New Year's Eve is a busy time. Families rushed to make New Year's dishes, and the smell of wine and meat was everywhere. Men and women of all ages put on new clothes, red couplets were put up outside the door, and New Year's paintings of various colors were put up inside the house. On New Year's Eve, every house was lit up all night long (xiāo), without interruption, and the sound of firecrackers continued day and night. Those who work outside, unless absolutely necessary, must come home to have a reunion dinner. On this night, except for very small children, no one sleeps, all to keep watch.

The first day of the first month of the year is very different from New Year's Eve: the stores are boarded up, the firecrackers from last night's fire are piled up in front of the door, and the whole city is at rest.

Men go to relatives' and friends' houses before noon to pay their respects. Women received guests at their homes. Many temples inside and outside the city hold temple fairs, and vendors (fàn) set up stalls outside the temples to sell tea, food and various toys. Children especially love to visit the temple fair for the opportunity to see the wild scenery outside the city, ride a donkey (lǘ), and buy toys unique to the New Year. There were horse races and camel races at the temple fair. These races are not about who comes first and who comes second, but about the beauty and skill of the horse, the camel and the rider in front of an audience.

Most stores open on the sixth day of the first month, but they are not very busy, and the fellows in the stores take turns going to temples, footbridges and theaters.

With the Lantern Festival on the market, another high point of the Spring Festival has arrived. On the fifteenth day of the first month, lights and colors are put up everywhere, and the whole street looks like a wedding ceremony, red and beautiful. Famous old stores have to hang out hundreds of lamps, in all shapes and colors, some of them are all glass, some of them are all cow horn, some of them are all gauze lamps, some of them are all painted all the Dream of Red Mansions or the Water Margin (hǔ) story. This was also a kind of advertisement in those days. Once the lamps were up, anyone could enter the store and visit. At night, when the lamps were lit with candles, there were even more visitors.

Children bought all kinds of firecrackers to set them off, and even if they didn't go out on the streets to play, they could still play at home with sound and light. There are also lanterns at home: horse lanterns, palace lanterns, paper lanterns of various shapes and colors, and gauze lanterns with small bells inside that jingle when the time comes. On this day everyone must also eat Lanterns! It is indeed a wonderful and happy day.

In the blink of an eye, at the end of the temple, the Spring Festival ended on the nineteenth day of the first month. It was time for the students to go to school and for the adults to go about their business as usual. In the first month of the Lunar New Year and the first month of the lunar calendar, in the countryside, it is the time when everyone is most idle. After the Festival of Lights, the weather turns warm and everyone goes back to work. Although Beijing is a city, but it also followed the rural areas together with the New Year, and live extraordinarily lively.