过年　Guo-nian; have the Spring Festival
对联　poetic couplet: two successive rhyming lines in  poetry
春联　Spring Festival
剪纸　paper-cutsOnline Community
年画　New Year paintings
买年货　special purchases for the Spring Festival ; do Spring Festival shopping
敬酒　propose a toast
灯笼　lantern: a portable light
烟花　fireworks

As the Chinese saying goes "xin nian tou, jiu nian wei" (beginning of new year, end of the old year), chu xi is one of the most important occasion in Chinese culture. Chu Xi 除夕 marks the end of the Lunar Year and the start of a bright new year. The Chinese word "chu" takes to mean to discard (qǜ 去). The term chu xi, in essence, means to discard the old and herald the new. It is celebrated as a family affair, a time of reunion and thanksgiving.

Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is one of the most important traditional Chinese holidays. It is sometimes called the Lunar New Year, especially by people outside China. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first lunar month (Chinese: 正月; pinyin: zhēng yuè) in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th; this day is called Lantern Festival. Chinese New Year's Eve is known as Chúxī. It literally means "Year-pass Eve"

Just as important as Christmas for the westerners, Spring Festival (chūn jié 春节) is the most important festival for the Chinese people, when all family members get together, no matter how far away they live from home. It makes the transportation systems the busiest in one year, which usually lasts for about half a month. During this period, airports, railway stations and long-distance bus stations are crowded with home returnees.

The Spring Festival falls on the 1st day of the 1st lunar month, often one month later than the Gregorian calendar. It originated in the Shang Dynasty (shāng cháo 商朝, 1600 BC-1100 BC) from the people's sacrifice to gods and ancestors at the end of an old year and the beginning of a new one.