People watch lion dancing during an event celebrating the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year at Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington D.C., the United States, Jan. 25, 2014. (Xinhua/Yin Bogu)

 
Thursday is the Chinese lunar new year's eve, a time for benevolent greetings.

The lunar new year, or Spring Festival, may be one of the strongest symbols of traditional Chinese culture. The festival is said to have existed for more than 4,000 years, evolving while passing along some traditional observances.

Today the words "Spring Festival" often remind people first of the CCTV gala and the world's largest annual human migration. Both of these did not exist a century ago. Still, these new features are so Chinese.

Some people once called for government resources to be mobilized to protect the traditions of Spring Festival. In fact, the most effective preservation of Spring Festival comes from the grass roots, as the festival has long been mixed into the cultural blood of Chinese society.

There is no cultural force that can swallow Spring Festival. Most likely, the external elements become part of the festival.

For example, television did not take away our family dinner during the New Year's Eve. Instead, it created the annual entertainment gala, which has become an indispensable part of the festival for many people in the past three decades.

Spring Festival is a joyful holiday. Withdrawing from a year of hard work and the circles of colleagues and business contacts, people can now take a break at home and mingle with family members and relatives.

People openly complain and joke without having to mask their feelings like they have to do in the workplace. Some of this mockery targets the government.

Spring Festival has become noisy and full of confusion, but enjoyable. Many Chinese people who have lived in Europe or the US for a long time are familiar with this love-hate sentiment about China. They say European countries and the US have clean and beautiful natural scenery and a great living environment, but they often feel lonely. Some admit that China is "chaotic and filthy," but living there is happy.

There are always a few disgruntled people who wish the country would undergo an earthshaking change so that their own fate might see a major turnaround. But we believe most people, especially around the time of Spring Festival, would expect the country to move along a steady track.

As long as everything goes by the rules, we can accumulate our capital and wealth, working hard for a better future.

The ongoing reform initiated by the country's new leadership is the process that sets the rules right.

Spring Festival is like a yearly break for every hard-working person. It gives us a time for relaxation and encouragement. The break also helps us take a second look at the world that we have taken for granted.