1, Lunar New Year's Eve:
Lunar New Year's Eve, or "the 30th of December," means the last day or night of the lunar year, and that night is also called the Great New Year's Eve. The character in (lunar New Year's Eve) means "to eliminate," therefore that night also means "to eliminate a year." The 23rd of December of lunar calendar is the Kitchen Day, and people offer sacrifices to the Kitchen God. 24th is the "Minor New Year's Day," and from that day through the lunar New Year's Eve, every household has a general cleaning. They will also do Spring Festival shopping. Pigs and sheep are butchered in the countryside, and people will thresh and polish glutinous rice, make all kinds of dim sum and cured meat. New Year pictures are also put up in and out of the houses. People in town often buy some flowers like narcissus, wintersweet or nandina, and put them in vases so as to add to the atmosphere of the festival. When night falls, all family members gather together and eat New Year's Dinner, or the "Family Reunion Dinner," in which a big variety of dishes are served.
Staying up all night, citizens usually watch TV at home and wait "to see the Old Year out and the New Year in."
When the bell tolls for the New Year, firecrackers are let off to welcome the new spring. For security's sake, firecrackers are banned in town.


2, The Spring Festival:
is the most important traditional festival for Chinese people. January 1st of the lunar calendar is the Chinese New Year. Early that day, people are well dressed and the whole family pays a visit to the elder generation. Peers send New Year greetings to each other. The senior members of a family will give money in a red envelope to the children as New Year gifts to congratulate on their growth. In the afternoon of the New Year's Day and the following two days, people will visit their relatives and friends, and many people have made use of modern technologies: they send regards to each other through videophones and the Internet. Nowadays, videophones have entered people's lives. When sending greetings to your acquaintances, you will see them smile and hear them talk on the line, as if you are chatting face-to-face with them.
　　On the 4th day of the New Year, many people buy fresh carp to welcome the God of Wealth, since the character 鲤(carp) sounds similar to 利(wealth), and a red carp with its head and tail lifted up look just like a gold ingot. All streets are busy during the first five days of the New Year, and people go on pilgrimage to the temples in an endless stream.
Stores are closed in the first three days of the New Year, and some are even closed till the fifth day, the only day for relaxation in a year for the staff. The God of Wealth is received on the fifth day, and people have a big meal that night.

3, The Lantern Festival:
January 15th is the Lantern Festival. People eat wontons in the day and rice dumplings in the evening. During the festival, large awnings are set up in old districts of Shanghai, and all kinds of lanterns together make a splendid view. Sailing boats with lanterns float in great numbers in the Huangpu River. Lanterns are also put up in the fields to anticipate a golden harvest. "Lantern Dragon Show" is a wonderful performance for the festival in western suburbs and Jiading Nanxiang. The performance is accompanied by gongs and drums, and sometimes there are dozens of lantern dragons pursuing a dragon ball.
During the Lantern Festival, women were supposed to cross three bridges. It is said that the family would get rid of all diseases if the women go across three big bridges at a night with bright moonlight. This could be easily done since there were quite a few bridges in old Shanghai, among which the Lu Stone Bridge usually drew more attention.

4, Tomb-Sweeping Day:
On the Tomb-Sweeping Day in March, people will go for a walk in the countryside and commemorate the dead by sweeping their tombs.
People often go to offer incense in Longhua Temple on March 15th, a big fair will be held in Longhua Town. Many people go to watch peach blossoms and the traffic becomes very busy-----as described by Li Xingnan in his A Bamboo Poem written in Qing Dynasty: "A beautiful spring day on March 15th, and travelers gather in an ancient pass; The waves carry away the ringing of bells, and the boats go past the eighteen coves of Longhua." The "Evening Bell in Longhua" used to be one of the eight scenery spots in Shanghai.
On March 23rd, people celebrate the birthday of the Queen of Heaven. Merchants from Fujian province offer sacrifices to the Queen of Heaven and pray for their safety and wealth. At that time, devotees would also invite theatrical troupes to give performances.

5, Beginning of Summer:
The day marking the beginning of summer is in April, and peasants living in the countryside make cakes with sugar and wheat flour, which is said to be able to prevent heatstroke. They also make fried pancakes with fresh grass and rice, a very popular food in Shanghai and Pudong. "The Three Freshenings," namely sweet plums, rice wine, and salted duck's eggs, are also the food in season.

6, The Buddha Washing Day:
On April 8th, the birthday of Sakyamuni, people will sweep the dust on the Buddha and chant prayers. Big temple fairs will be held in some temples such as Jing An Temple and Guang Fu Temple, and all kinds of local specialties are traded and exchanged.