Chinese Spring Festival or the Chinese Lunar New Year, the new year of Chinese traditional calendar, is the most widely observed festival throughout the whole country. 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 fifteenth day of the first month of the lunar calendar. 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.
Spring Festival is a time for family reunions, for visits with friends, for good wishes for the coming year. In addition, the whole family will eat dumpling together. On the first day of the Spring Festival, friends and relatives will call on each other to exchange greetings and wish another the happiest possible New Year.
参考资料:http://www.beijingservice.com/beijinghighlights/springfestival.htm