The weather is starting to warm up. The days are getting longer. Flowers are appearing on the trees and baby animals can be seen in the fields. What do all these mean? Spring is in the air!
Spring refers to not only the season but also the idea of rebirth, and that's why most countries have special traditions to celebrate the arrival of this beautiful season.
Chinese people often eat spring pancakes on the day called the Beginning of Spring, which is on February 4th this year. This tradition means "bite the spring" in Chinese. In the past, people thought eating spring pancakes on this day would lead to a good harvest (丰收). Today, spring pancakes are common in many restaurants.
In Japan, families and friends celebrate spring by enjoying the beauty of cherry blossoms(樱花) together. It is a traditional custom known as "hanami", meaning "viewing flowers". Hanami usually lasts from late March to early May. People hold parties or picnics under the cherry trees. Food, drinks and even singing and dancing are all parts of "hanami".
In the U.S., a groundhog (土拨鼠) helps to tell the coming of spring and this has become a tradition. There's even a special day, Groundhog Day, on every February 2nd. The legend says that if a groundhog sees his shadow(影子) when he comes out of his cave, there will be six more weeks of winter. If there's no shadow, spring is on the way! Hooray!
