QUESTION:
The Chinese people have the custom of sticking up pictures to celebrate the traditional Lunar New Year - or Spring Festival (Chunjie), the practice being first recorded in historical works of the Song Dynasty (960-1279).

The custom is particularly popular in the China's vast rural areas, where just before the festival day every household will be busy cleaning and pasting colorful pictures or paper cuttings on their doors, windows, walls, even wardrobes and stoves.

The themes expressed in New Year pictures cover a wide range, from plump babies holding a fish to the Old God of Longevity, from landscapes to birds and flowers, from the ploughing cattle in spring to rich harvests in autumn.

What is the purpose of putting up these delicate and intricate paper cuttings:

A. To ensure that household wins the lottery during the coming year;
B. To bring luck to the household for the year;
C. To ward off evil spirits;
D. So that your neighbors know that you are at home.

ANSWERS:
B is the right answer. Traditional paper cuttings feature objects including the crane or the peach which symbolize long life or plums or peonies which are a mark of good fortune and happiness.

To meet the specific needs of the vast rural population, New Year pictures are produced in all regions in China with different local characteristics. But the leading producers are at three localities: Yangliuqing Village near Tianjin, Taohuawu near Suzhou and Weifang in Shandong.