Данас почиње Ксиаониан

Xiaonian, also known as the Little New Year, usually falls a week before the lunar New Year. It is not a fixed festival as it varies with local customs. People have the tradition of "the third for official, the fourth for folk and the fifth for marine", which means the official celebrate the Chinese Little New Year on the 23rd of the 12th lunar month, the people celebrate on the 24th while the coastal or lakeside residents celebrate on the 25th day.

Пошто је Сјаонијан почетак припреме кинеске Нове године, за овај посебан дан су осмишљени бројни обичаји.

Китцхен Год Ворсхипинг

The Little New Year is also called the Festival of the Kitchen God (the deity who oversees the moral character of each household). Legend has it that it's on this day that the Kitchen God will report the Jade Emperor about the good and evil deeds of every family for the Emperor to reward and punish. To bribe the Kitchen God so he would say only good words, each family offers him sacrifices, including pig's head, fish, sweet bean paste, melons, fruit, boiled dumplings, barley sugar, and Guandong candy, a sticky treat made out of glutinous millet and sprouted wheat.

Another tradition is to burn the picture of the Kitchen God, who is believed to be gone with the smoke on his trip to do the report. On New Year's Eve, a new picture of the Kitchen God is posted, meaning that the Kitchen God is then welcomed back. From this vantage point, the Kitchen God will oversee and protect the household for another year.

Спремање

From the Little New Year to New Year's Eve is the time for house cleaning - every family needs to clean up thoroughly for a clean New Year, including organizing the yard, as well as scrubbing the doors, windows, and interior of the house.

According to Chinese folk beliefs, during the last month of the year ghosts and deities must choose either to return to Heaven or to stay on Earth. It is believed that in order to ensure the ghosts and deities' timely departure, people must thoroughly clean both their persons and their dwellings, down to every last drawer and cupboard.

In Chinese, the character for "dust" is a homophone of the character for "the old". People believe that giving the house a thorough cleanse on the Little New Year would rid them of their poverty and bad luck from the previous year, so as to welcome a prosperous new year.

Paste Couplet and Paper-cuts 

It is one of the most distinctive traditions of the Little New Year in China. On this day, old couplets and paper cuts from the previous Spring Festival are taken down, and new window decorations, New Year's posters, and auspicious decorations are pasted up.

A Spring Festival couplet is usually composed of three parts - the left scroll, the right scroll, and the top scroll. It is used as a New Year's decoration that expresses happiness and hopeful thoughts for the coming year.

Постоје различити стилови папирних{0}}реза, укључујући све врсте животиња, биљака, цвећа, воћа, итд. Циљ лепљења папирних-реза на прозоре је молитва за добро у Новој години.

Купање и шишање{0}}

As the old Chinese saying goes, whether they're rich or poor, people often have a haircut before the Spring Festival. Besides, many people think that having a haircut in the first lunar month will bring bad luck. So that's good to do it on Little New Year Day.

Припреме за пролећни фестивал

People start to stock up necessary provisions for the Spring Festival since the Little New Year. At noon on New Year's Eve Day, shopkeepers everywhere put up their shutters and lock their doors, not to reopen until the end of Spring Festival several weeks later. So everything needs to be purchased in advance, such as items such as meat, poultry, and eggs; fruit and vegetables; rice and flour; cigarettes, alcohol, sugar, and tea; red paper, images of celestial horses and the Kitchen God, incense and candles, snacks, new calendars, and toys. Also do not forget new clothes for the children and firecrackers to welcome in the New Year.