Far and away the most important holiday in China is Spring Festival, also known as the Chinese New Year. To the Chinese people it is as important as Christmas to people in the West. the dates for this annual celebration are determined by the lunar calendar rather than the GREgorian calendar, so the timing of the holiday varies from late January to early February.

To the ordinary Chinese, the festival actually begins on the eve of the lunar New Year's Day and ends on the fifth day of the first month of the lunar calendar. But the 15th of the first month, which normally is called the Lantern Festival, means the official end of the Spring Festival in many parts of the country.

很久以来中国最重要的节日是春节，也被称为中国的新年。对中国人来说就像西方人的圣诞节一样重要。这个一年一度的庆祝活动的日期是由农历而不是公历确定的，因此假日的时间变化从一月下旬到二月上旬。

对于普通的中国人来说，春节于农历新年的第一天开始并于农历的第一个月的第五日前夕结束。但在第一个月的第十五日，通常被称为元宵节，意味着在该国许多地区正式的结束春节。