大家都知道春节是中国人一年中最热闹最盛大的传统节日。你也许已经听说过许多关于春节的有趣风俗。但你知道吗，中国幅员辽阔，不同的地方风俗并不相同，即使相同，也可能流传着不一样的传说。比如说"饺子"，在除夕之夜吃饺子主要是北方的习俗。但淮河以南的人家并不习惯吃饺子，除夕夜的餐桌上常见的食物通常是年糕，春卷，或者是用鸡蛋做皮儿的蛋饺。

        至于北方人为什么要在除夕夜吃饺子，也有许多不同说法：有的和饺子的形状有关，饺子的形状像中国古代的一种货币——元宝，象征着财富，因此，过年吃饺子会带来一年的财运。还有的家庭包饺子时会在某一个饺子里包上一枚硬币，吃到硬币的那个人当然就会在新年里格外好运啦!

        还有一种说法是根据饺子的发音而来的：在中国传统的计时制度中，午夜12点后的第一个时辰被称为"子时"，除夕夜的子时正是农历新年的伊始，"饺子"（jiǎozi）的发音和"交子（jiāo zǐ）"相似，取"更岁交子"的吉祥意思。所以饺子一般要在年三十晚上12点以前包好，待到半夜子时（0点）吃，热腾腾的饺子下肚，一家人其乐融融。

The Spring Festival is the most important and the biggest traditionalfestival in China. Maybe you have already heard of many interesting customs about the Spring Festival, but did you know the local customs can be rather different in different areas of China. Even if some of these customs are the same, the legends are not. For example, eating dumplings on Spring Festival Eve is the tradition in northern China, while in southern China, people eat glutinous rice cakes and spring rolls, or dumplings with egg wrappers instead of the traditional dumpling skin.
There are many reasons why people in northern China eat dumplings on Spring Festival Eve. One reason is that the shape of the dumplings resembles the ancient Chinese gold ingots used as money--Yuanbao, so dumplings symbolize wealth. Therefore, it is said that eating dumplings on Spring Festival Eve will bring you good luck. Some families hide a coin in one of the dumplings, and the person who find or bite it will be the luckiest one in the New Year.
The other reason why people in northern China eat dumplings is according to its Chinese pronunciation "jiǎozi". In China's traditional timing system, after midnight, the first hour is called "zǐshí", and this hour marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year. The pronunciation of "jiǎozi"(dumpling) is similar to "jiāo zǐ" (meaning auspicious). In general, dumplings should be made before mid-night on Spring Festival Eve, which is when the whole family get together to enjoy the hot dumplings. What a delightful picture!

• tradition [trə´diʃən]   n.传统；惯例；传说   (初中英语单词)
• wealth [welθ]   n.财富，财产   (初中英语单词)
• therefore [´ðeəfɔ:]   ad.&conj.因此；所以   (初中英语单词)
• pronunciation [prə,nʌnsi´eiʃən]   n.发音(法)   (初中英语单词)
• system [´sistəm]   n.系统，体系，制度   (初中英语单词)
• midnight [´midnait]   n.午夜；漆黑   (初中英语单词)
• beginning [bi´giniŋ]   n.开始，开端；起源   (初中英语单词)
• delightful [di´laitful]   a.讨人喜欢的   (初中英语单词)
• festival [´festivəl]   n.节日；庆祝；欢庆   (高中英语单词)
• traditional [trə´diʃənəl]   a.传统的，习惯的   (英语四级单词)