爱华网Spring Festival is a time for family reunion.
The New Year Feast is "a must" banquet with all the family members getting together.
The food eaten on the New Year's Eve banquet varies according to regions.
In southern China, it is customary to eat "nian gao" (New Year cake made of glutinous rice flour) because as a homophone, "nian gao" means "higher and higher every year".
In the north, a traditional dish for the feast is "Jiao zi" or dumplings shaped like a crescent moon, which means farewell to old year and welcome to the New Year.
春节是合家团聚的时刻。
年夜饭是一次所有家庭成员聚在一起，“必不可少”的宴会。
除夕宴会上吃的食物根据不同的地区各不相同。
在中国南方，人们习惯吃“年糕”(糯米粉制成的新年糕点)，因为作为一个谐音字，年糕意味着“步步高升”。
在北方，年夜饭的传统是吃“饺子”，形似月牙儿，寓意着辞旧迎新。
【讲解】文中的###New Year Feast就是“年夜饭”的意思，其中feast是名词，意为“宴会;酒席”，强调共享欢乐的气氛，有时可与banquet换用。如：festival feast(节日宴会)，give a feast(举行宴会，也可说成hold a feast)。
banquet指正式招待某人或庆祝某事件而举行的“盛大宴会”，场面豪华，多为美酒珍肴，如：A victory banquet was served in the royal dining room.(庆功宴在皇家餐厅举行。)
