（一）立春

       2009年2月4日是立春。立春是一年中的第一个节气，一般在公历2月3日—5日之间。
       "立"是"开始"的意思，立春就是春季的开始。立春以后，气温回升，人们明显地感觉到白昼长了，太阳暖了。春耕大忙季节在全国大部分地区陆续开始。所以在中国传统习俗中，立春这一天既是一个节气，也是一个迎春的节日，会有很多庆贺、祭典的活动，至今民间仍保留着一些。例如有些村镇立春日举办"迎春会"，常由十多岁的少年扮成一个官老爷，身穿纸官服，头戴纸帽，脚蹬纸靴，骑着牛，前往祭祀坛，带领百姓祈祷，保佑风调雨顺，五谷丰登，沿途敲锣打鼓，放鞭炮以迎接春天的到来。有的地方则由一人手敲小锣鼓，唱着迎春的赞词，挨家挨户送上一张春牛图。送春牛图，意在催促提醒人们，一年之计在于春，要抓紧农时，莫误大好春光。

         立春的食俗突出一个"咬"字，叫"咬春"。讲究吃春饼、吃春卷、嚼萝卜等。"春饼"比吃烤鸭的薄饼要大一些、有韧劲一些，里面卷有很多菜，如：各色酱肉、熏肉或者盐腌肉；多种炒菜，如菠菜、韭菜、豆芽菜、粉丝、鸡蛋等。"春卷"以薄饼为皮，多以猪肉、豆芽、韭菜、韭黄、粉丝等为馅，卷好了炸着来吃。"嚼萝卜"则是北京的风俗，尤其是被北京人称作"心里美"的萝卜，生嚼起来又脆又甜又有点辣，口感水灵，妇孺老幼都喜欢。从药理上讲，常食萝卜有助于软化血管，降血脂稳血压，还可解酒、理气，具有营养、健身、祛病等功效。中国人讲究"药食同源"、"按时令进补"，立春时节嚼萝卜的习俗，就具体地体现了这种思想。

Start of Spring

February 4, 2009, is the day of start of spring. Start of spring is the first solar term. Normally it comes between February 3 and February 5 in the Gregorian calendar.

 Li (立) means "to start" in Chinese. Li Chun is the start of spring. After Start of Spring, the temperature obviously increases. People can feel the daytime become longer and the sunshine become warmer. The busy spring farming begins in most areas in China. Therefore, in Chinese tradition, the day of start of spring is a solar term, and a festival of welcoming spring. There will be many activities of celebration and sacrifice. Till today, you can still see some traces of this tradition in Chinese folk customs. For example, on the day of start of spring, some towns and villages will hold a fair to welcome the spring. A teenage boy will play the role of an old official. He will wear paper official uniforms, a paper hat, and paper boots. He will ride an ox and go to the temple of sacrifice and lead people to pray for a favorable weather and a big harvest. People will play gongs and drums and fire fireworks on the way to welcome the coming of spring. In some places, one person will play a small gong and sing songs to praise the coming of spring. This person will give a picture of an ox to every household. To give a picture of ox is to remind people that the whole year's result depends on a good start in spring and people should grasp the precious spring time to do farm work.

The dietary custom on the day of start of spring is focused on "bite" or "bite spring". People will eat spring pancakes, spring rolls and radish. Spring pancakes are bigger and stringier than pancakes for Peking duck. You can have many choices in the fillings in the spring pancakes, such as all kinds of braised meat, smoked meat or persevered meat, different stir fries including spinach, leek, bean sprouts, vermicelli, eggs, etc. To eat radish is another custom in Beijing. There is a special type of radish which is called "beauty inside" by Beijingers. When eaten in raw, this "beauty inside" is crispy, sweet, juicy and a little bit spicy and beloved by everyone. From the medical point of view, radish is good for intenerating blood vessels, reducing blood fat and stabilizing blood pressure. It can help people to sober up and breathe smoothly. It is nutritious, healthy and beneficial. Chinese people think medicine and food are the same and one should eat the right food according to the season. To eat radish in the time around the day of start of spring is a good example.

• obviously [´ɔbviəsli]   ad.明显地；显而易见地   (初中英语单词)
• sunshine [´sʌnʃain]   n.日光，阳光   (初中英语单词)
• therefore [´ðeəfɔ:]   ad.&conj.因此；所以   (初中英语单词)
• tradition [trə´diʃən]   n.传统；惯例；传说   (初中英语单词)
• welcome [´welkəm]   a.受欢迎的；可喜的   (初中英语单词)
• temple [´tempəl]   n.庙宇；寺院；太阳穴   (初中英语单词)
• favorable [´feivərəbəl]   a.赞成的；顺利的   (初中英语单词)
• harvest [´hɑ:vist]   n.&v.收获；收割   (初中英语单词)
• remind [ri´maind]   vt.提醒；使记(想)起   (初中英语单词)
• beloved [bi´lʌvd]   a.为....所爱的 n.爱人   (初中英语单词)
• everyone [´evriwʌn]   pron.=everybody 每人   (初中英语单词)
• medical [´medikəl]   a.医学的；医疗的   (初中英语单词)
• pressure [´preʃə]   n.压榨 vt.对...施压力   (初中英语单词)
• healthy [´helθi]   a.健康的   (初中英语单词)
• daytime [´deitaim]   n.白天   (高中英语单词)
• festival [´festivəl]   n.节日；庆祝；欢庆   (高中英语单词)
• celebration [,seli´breiʃən]   n.庆祝(会)；庆典   (高中英语单词)
• smoothly [´smu:ðli]   ad.光滑地；顺利地   (高中英语单词)
• beneficial [,beni´fiʃəl]   a.有利的，有益的   (英语四级单词)
• normally [´nɔ:məli]   ad.正常情况下；通常   (英语六级单词)
• fireworks [´faiəwə:ks]   n.爆竹，焰火   (英语六级单词)