Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. The festival traditionally begins on the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar and ends on the 15th. Chinese have to do the appointed things at the appointed day:

The 1st day of spring festival: It is a time when families visit the oldest and most senior members of their extended family. Members of the family who are married also give red packets containing cash to junior members of the family, mostly children and teenagers.

The 2nd day of spring festival: The 2nd day is for married daughters to visit their birth parents. Traditionally, daughters who have been married may not have the opportunity to visit their birth families frequently.

The 3rd and 4th days: These two days are generally accepted as inappropriate days to visit relatives and friends due to the following schools of thought.

The 5th day of spring festival: I like this day very very much, because in northern China (such as Beijing), we eat dumplings on the morning of this day. You know, I like dumplings very much :D

The 7th day of spring festival: The day when everyone grows one year older. It is the day when tossed raw fish salad, yusheng, is eaten. People get together to toss the colourful salad and make wishes for continued wealth and prosperity.

The 9th day of spring festival: The ninth day of the New Year is a day for Chinese to offer prayers to the Jade Emperor of Heaven in the Taoist Pantheon. Tea is served as a customary protocol for paying respect to an honored person.

The 15th day of spring festival: This day often marks the end of the Chinese New Year festivities. Rice dumplings Tangyuan, a sweet glutinous rice ball brewed in a soup, is eaten this day. Candles are lit outside houses as a way to guide wayward spirits home. This day is celebrated as the Lantern Festival, and families walk the street carrying lighted lanterns.

Rat year has come, happy to everyone :D