When I tell friends my age in Shanghai about how excited I get about Spring Festival, I get the feeling most of them think I'm foolish and childish. "How old are you?" their eyes seem to ask.
当我告诉朋友，在上海过春节我是多少兴奋时，我得到的感觉他们认为我很傻很孩子气，他们的眼中好像在问，你多大年龄了？
I just smile. One of the few things in the world I'm sure of is that my love for the Chinese new year holiday will last forever.
我只是笑，这世界上我确认的事情之一是我对中国新年的热爱将持续永远。
As someone who lives away from home, Spring Festival is closely associated with where I grew up; a place where my dearest family and friends are, where familiar scenes conjure the feeling of leafing through an old photo album.
对一个离家在外的人来说，春节是与成长地最亲近的联系。在那里有我最亲的家人和朋友，在那里熟悉的场景像翻阅的老照片。
Many people complain that CCTV's annual Spring Festival Gala is getting boring and have urged audiences to turn their back on the show.
很多人抱怨，CCTV每年的春节晚会越来越没有意思，致使观众离开屏幕前。
To me, it's not just a television program; it's an event that I enjoy with my entire family on New Year's Eve. It's a vital part of the festival in my heart. I grow with it and I love it. It's how I know I'm living through the last few hours of a long year. I like leaving the television on that channel whatever I'm doing. I love watching the hosts in their extravagant costumes. I love the joyful dancing and singing.
对我来说，这不止是一个电视节目，这是和所有家人共度除夕的事件。在我心中，这是春节重要的一部分，我伴着其成长，我喜爱它。这是我知道如何渡过一年中最后几个小时。我喜欢让电视一直开着，无论我做什么。我喜欢看身着华丽衣服的主持人，我喜欢开心的舞蹈及歌唱。
Personal experience tells me even ordinary ceremonies in life can work wonders as long as your heart is in it.
个人的经历告诉自己，即使是生活中普通的仪式，只有你的心中有它，就可能产生奇妙的作用。
Every year on my birthday, my father insists on giving me a nice card with handwritten blessings, whether I'm at home or abroad. Each time I'm moved to tears. It's a little thing but it means the world to both of us. Words may be forgotten, but the cards will always be there for me to read.
每年我的生日时，我的爸爸坚持给我一张漂亮的卡片，并在上面手写祝福，无论我在家还是在国外。每次我都会感动而泣。这是一件小事，但是意味着这是我们俩的世界。句子可能会忘记，但这些卡片总是在那我可以读。
If I'm honest, I'm sometimes hopelessly lazy and have planned to skip making my father's birthday card because I know he won't feel sad if I just call him instead. As the day draws closer, however, I always get upset and eventually make one. It allows me to express my love.
诚实的讲，有时无可救药懒惰的我计划着忽略我父亲的生日卡片，因为我知道如果我只是打电话给他，他也不会难过。然而，随着日子的接近，我总是感到不安，最后还是会准备卡片。这使我传递了我的爱。
A friend in Shandong province recently told me he felt exhausted after spending the holiday in his hometown because of the constant eating and drinking. Celebrations there abide by tradition, such as the necessary etiquette when someone makes a toast (people must drink more or less depending on how closely related they are, while different words are used for varying ages). I love hearing him explain in fine detail about the atmosphere around the table, as I see how human beings are bound together.
最近我山东一朋友告诉我回家过完年后感到精疲力竭，因为不间断的吃喝。在那传统习惯的庆祝，像必要的礼节当有人敬酒时（人必须或多或少的喝一点，这要看他们的关系有多亲近。对不同的年纪使用不同的词汇）
Sadly, however, my friend's story is exceptional rather than the rule. A survey by China Youth Daily online found that three-quarters of 1,621 people feel that the sense of ceremony during Spring Festival is diminishing. About half of the respondents were born in the 1980s, with another 40 percent in 1970s. This tells me that people are becoming more cynical. ]
然而不幸的是，我朋友的故事不是惯例而是特殊疏情况。一份青年报的在线调查发现，1621被调查者中的3/4感觉在春节期间庆祝的感觉降低了。大约一半的调查者出生于80后，另40%生于70后，这告诉我人们变得更玩世不恭了。
I hate to think of those people who don't care about anything, as if nothing can reach their heart. They are interested in nothing but things they can touch and possess.
我讨厌想起那些什么也不在乎的人，好像没有什么能到达他的内心。他们对什么都没有兴趣，除了他们可以接触并拥有的。
Such a person will never know the happiness one gains from devoting themselves to a hobby or a special occasion.
这样一个人永远也不会明白幸福，这种幸福是一个人通过将自己致力于一种幸福或一个特别的场合得来。
I like to think of people who show joy about something that is not material, something spiritual. No one knows how happy I was when I listened to my mother and uncle as they told stories of the games they played and the delicious food they ate as children during Spring Festival. In their expressions, I see life much larger than it is.
我喜欢那些对一些事表现出欢愉的感情，这些事不是物质的，而是精神上的。没有一个人知道我是多么快乐，当我听妈妈和舅舅讲他们参加比赛的故事，他们还是孩子时春节期间吃的美味的食物。我看到的生活比其本身大得多。
So please, don't get too cynical. Everything in this world has a meaning and deserves respect, let alone the most important festival celebrated across this vast and ancient land. Although the world changes quickly, sometimes making us feel humbly uncertain, please just try your best to feel the joy of spending time with family and friends.
所以拜托，不要变得太玩世不恭，这世上每一件事都有他的含义及 值得尊重，更不必说在这块巨大古老土地上庆祝的最重要的节日。虽然这世界变化很快，有时让我们感到谦逊的不确定。请尽你最大的努力去体会与家人和朋友共渡的时光。
Why not make a wish. Perhaps your life or your attitude toward life will be different. It's always worthwhile to hold on to innocence and hope, have respect for heaven and earth, and show gratitude for being alive.
为什么不许个愿？也许你的生活或你对生活的态度将会有所不同。抓住纯净和希望总是值得做的，尊重天地，对活着感恩。
As traditional ceremonies carry cultural messages from our history and define our Chinese identity, ignoring them means forgetting our past. That's how we, the generations born in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, find ourselves spiritually lost in today's world.
做为传统的仪式，执行着我们历史遗留下来的文化信息，定义着我们中国人的身份。忽略它们意味着忘记过去。这就是我们生于70、80、90几代人在当今世界发现我们自己在精神上所遗失的。
Don't let that sense of ceremony die in your hearts.
不要让礼仪的感觉在你的心中死去，
The author is a reporter for China Daily METRO.
China Daily
(China Daily 02/24/2011
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