Zhajiang mian ("fried sauce noodles") is a northern Chinese dish consisting of thick wheat noodles topped with a mixture of ground pork stir-fried with fermented soybean paste.

In Beijing cuisine, yellow soybean paste (黄酱; pinyin: huángjiàng) is used, while in Tianjin and other parts of China sweet noodle sauce (甜面酱; pinyin: tiánmiànjiàng), hoisin sauce (海鲜酱; pinyin: hǎixiānjiàng), or doubanjiang (豆瓣酱; pinyin: dòubànjiàng) may be used in place of the yellow soybean paste. In the cuisines of Beijing, Tianjin, and northeastern China, the soybean paste is stir fried and oil is not used.

The Chinese New Year is often accompanied by loud, enthusiastic greetings, often referred to as 吉祥話 (Jíxiánghùa) , or loosely translated as auspicious words or phrases. Some of the most common examples may include:

Happy New Year
simplified Chinese: 新年快乐; traditional Chinese: 新年快樂; pinyin: Xīnnián kuàilè; Hokkien POJ: Sin-nî khòai-lo̍k; Cantonese: san1 nin4 faai3 lok6. A more contemporary greeting reflective of western influences, it literally translates from the greeting "Happy new year" more common in the west. But in northern parts of China, traditionally people say simplified Chinese: 过年好; traditional Chinese: 過年好; pinyin: guònián hǎo instead of simplified Chinese: 新年快乐, to differentiate it from the international new year. And 過年好 can be used from the first day to the fifth day of Chinese new year.

Not all luck-bringing papers are couplets. Some are four-character-phrases that express traditional sentiments for a rich and bountiful spring. Still others are single characters, for example, the Chinese character "fu(福)".

Posting the "福" (pinyin: fú; jyutping: fuk1) character is a tradition for Chinese people during Spring Festival each year. "福" is difficult to translate into English; it means something like "幸福" (xìngfú; happiness, blessing, well-being, being satisfied with one's life) and "福气" (fúqì; good luck, good fortune). Posting the "福" character represents people's wish for a good life and happy future.

The "福" character is often posted upside-down. It is said that this is because the character for "upside-down", "倒" (pinyin: dào; jyutping: dou3), is a homonym of the character for "to arrive", "到" (pinyin: dào; jyutping: dou3). So this means that "福" (happiness, good fortune, etc.) is "arriving".

Here comes three legends of the origin of Upside-down "Fu" Character

In Chinese society, a red envelope or red packet / red pocket (Known as Hong Bao in Mandarin, Ang Pao in Hokkien and Lai See in Cantonese, 红包) is a monetary gift which is given during holidays or special occasions.

Origin
There are no clear literary sources from which to trace the origin of the red envelope tradition. In China, during the Qing Dynasty, the elderly would thread coins with a red string. The money was called yāsuì qián (traditional Chinese: 壓歲錢 压岁钱), meaning "money warding off evil spirits", and was believed to protect the elderly from sickness and death. The yāsuì qián was replaced by red envelopes when printing presses became more common after the establishment of the Republic of China in 1911. Red envelopes are also referred to as yāsuì qián.

Chun lian is a special type of Duilian, or couplet. It is used only during the Chinese New Year as part of its celebration. While duilian is permanent, chunlian is a temporary decoration to be placed on the entrance of the house, somewhat akin to Halloween and Christmas decorations.

Duilian comprises of a couplet written on vertical strips of red paper in the best calligraphic style one can muster. In addition, a third horizontal piece may be posted across and on top the door.

Chun lian is written on red paper with ink. Red is a very lucky color for the Chinese, it frightens off the Chinese New Year monster 'Nian' who arrives at this time of year and destroys crops and homes. "Nian" has three weaknesses: it was frightened by noise, sunshine, and the color red. So villagers built fires, set off firecrackers, and painted the doors to their houses red and placed red couplets beside the doors. Red to the Chinese also represents good fortune, fame and riches.

These couplets can be hung outside beside the main door and also inside in important rooms like the kitchen, bedroom and lounge. They are also hung either side of the cooker or hob. They are normally hung for two months after the Chinese New Year although many people leave them all year round for continued good luck.