Red Couplet (Duilian)

Pasting red spring couplet has been an important part of the Chinese New Year’s celebration since ancient times. On lunar New Year’s Eve, families in both urban and rural areas make it a point to decorate their gates or apartment doorframes with the customary couplets.

The couplet, written on two strips of red paper, is composed of two poetic sentences which match and rhyme with each other to express hopes for the coming year. The red couplets, along with the New Year paintings on the door, serve as beautiful decorations as well as protective talismans.

Red Paper-cut (Jianzhi)

Paper-cut art is another traditional handcraft created by Chinese people. People cut papers into animals, flowers or people in various patterns. Pasted on the window, door lintel or desks for the festival atmosphere, paper cuttings are mainly used for decoration during the Spring Festival to welcome the Chinese New Year.

It can be very interesting to learn paper-cut, which is all made by hand. You need only a knife and paper. But, no mistake can be made during the process, otherwise the work would be a fail.