One interesting outing during the holiday would be visit a Temple Fair, Miao Hui 庙会. Again be forewarned that the crowds will be incredible so be prepared and probably best to take public transportation, as parking will be restricted. There will be public performances, snacks and all kinds of food and souvenirs will be sold. Most of the temple fairs will be held at public parks and open from dusk till dawn.

Another must do during the holiday is everyone watches the CCTV New Year Gala television special. Since the first broadcast in 1982, this show now draws over a billion viewers throughout the world. Starting at 8pm on New Years Eve, it will run for four and a half hours till after midnight. The variety show is packed with singers, comedy, skits and movie stars. Last year, Canadian singer, Celine Dion was the special guest. Canadian Mark Roswell DaShan 大山who is a famous Chinese comedienne in China got his introduction and became famous from his 1989 performance on this gala. If you miss the live show, don't worry for the rest of the holiday week; previous 4-hour shows will be rebroadcast.

As you should know, food is very important to the Chinese and different types of food have special significance, especially during this holiday. Traditionally, many families will have dumplings JiaoZi 餃子 at midnight on New Year's Eve. Eaten historically in northern China because the preparation is similar to packaging luck inside the dumpling, which is later eaten. The dumpling resembles a silver ingot, or money and a symbolism of prosperity. By contrast in south China, the symbolic New Years staple is glutinous rice cake, niángāo 年糕 it literally means New Year Cake.

Other foods that are common during the New Year are dishes with fish. The pronunciation of fish (魚yú) makes it a homophone for "surpluses"(餘yú). Uncut noodles represent longevity and melon seeds show abundance and are popular during this period.

During the first day of the New Year, families will visit the husband's parent's home and wearing some part of clothing that is red. During the second day, the same homage is done for the wife's parents. Some also believe that this day is the common birthday for all dogs, so make sure your pet also get a special treat.

The fifteenth day is known as the Lantern Festival YuánXiāoJié 元宵節 this is the final day of the new-year festival and it is the first new moon of the New Year. The Chinese love "homophones" and use them a great deal in conversation and idioms. These idioms and couplets are written on red banners and strung at the entrance of homes to bring luck for the coming years. Homophones are words that sound the same but written differently and have different meanings. For example, Yuan Xiao 元宵 the words for the Lantern Festival and the word Yuan is the olden time name for moon and Xiao meant night.

Why Lanterns? There are many different legends and versions for this and my favorite is from the Han dynasty about the Emperors maid, Yuan Xia who pretended to be a red fairy from the God of Fire who threatened to burn down a village, so the people prepared the sweet dumplings and decorated the village with lanterns to fool the Fire God. Here in the north, the dumplings are called Yuan Xiao and in the south, they re called Tang Yuan. Both are made from glutinous rice and usually have sweet fillings of peanuts or sesame. The northern version is made from flour and water with a pinch of filling and rolled in a large basket with flour until round, whereas the southern version is made by rolling in your palms. I can't tell the difference, they are both yummy.

We have mentioned many aspects of the holiday and cultural and family life, but what about business? It is a common belief that all debts should be settled before the start of the New Year. The home and office should be cleaned and swept of all the old garbage and begin the New Year with a fresh start. In fact, do not do any cleaning during the holidays for fear of sweeping out the good fortune.

There are those that look forward to the Spring Festival for business but some do not.

The Chinese Spring festival a.k.a 春节 is not just a social affair in China. It is big business. From many angles the Spring Festival in China is one of the biggest business events of the year.

For example, the transportation industry, most especially the China railway system, there is no other time of year like the Spring Festival that business will be busier. In Chinese they even have a phrase "chun yun" 春运 to describe the mass movement of people during Spring Festival. The two characters broken down in English mean "chun" 春 for "chun jie" 春节 which means spring and "yun" 运 for "yun shu" 运输 which means transport. Thus this phrase "chun yun" 春运 captures in but a few words, the simple truth, Spring Festival has a major impact on business in Tianjin and throughout China.

If you want to know the extent of the business impact of the Spring Festival in Tianjin and China, nothing speaks louder than the stats, as the numbers don't lie. According to Baidu, China's main online search engine and internet information resource, it is estimated that the transportation system will have to accommodate altogether more than 3 billion people travelling throughout China during the roughly 40 day period of time before, during, and after the 2014 Spring Festival. This 40 day time period for 2014 is January 16 through February 24 as noted by the China Railway Company. If you want to even begin to imagine what the movement of more than 3 billion people looks like in such a short period of time just Baidu "chun yun" 春运 and browse the related photos! Or, if you are brave and local to Tianjin, go to the Tianjin Train Station and see a bit of the action live!

From the transportation business point of view, the train continues to be the primary mode of transportation for Chinese going home to celebrate the Spring Festival. Of course plane and car are options, but sometimes these are cost or time prohibitive. Thus, one of the major impacts Spring Festival has on China and Tianjin business is an increase in travel spending. Major money will go from consumer to company during the 2014 Spring Festival.

Outside of travel, you must consider gifts. Yes, what would a festival be without gift giving. For the Chinese it is not only mandatory to "go home" 回家 during the Spring Festival, but of course you should come bearing gifts. After all, who likes an empty handed visitor even if you are family?

Retail businesses in Tianjin will see a spike in sales due to gift buying. Interesting too is what makes the Chinese gift giving list during the Spring Festival. Common gifts are not just the typical personal electronic items such as many expats accustomed to celebrating Christmas might expect. Rather, the giving of edibles and drinkables is highly welcomed!

Eating is big business in China. The Chinese love to eat, love to drink and love to celebrate. Therefore, bags of rice, jugs of cooking oil, bottles of alcohol, boxes of eggs and milk are all acceptable gifts during the Spring Festival. You will see many folks toting around these items as they go visiting their friends and family in Tianjin. Without question, super markets and malls throughout Tianjin are busy and packed with Spring Festival shoppers stocking up on gifts to give.

Next on the list of businesses impacted by the Spring Festival in Tianjin is restaurants. Many Chinese love to have large meals with family and friends not just at home but out and about. Therefore you better get dialing and make reservations well in advance if you plan on eating out at a well know or high end restaurant during the Spring Festival in Tianjin. Hotel restaurants and other fine dining establishments will be geared up and ready to handle the herds of hungry holiday guests.

What about the personal side of the business impact of Spring Festival in Tianjin. How will expats working and living in Tianjin be impacted financially by the Spring Festival?

An expat working in a Tianjin based logistics company mentioned business leading up to the Spring Festival will increase, as you must get all orders processed before the Spring Festival begins. This is to prepare for the massive slow down in business activities in general throughout Tianjin and China, as employees will take time off to celebrate the Spring Festival, likewise related overall revenue during the holiday season may slip.

An expat working at a Tianjin pharmaceutical company speaks on the impact the Spring Festival has on business, stating items need to be pre-stocked to anticipate the time off during Spring Festival, this will lead to a slight peek in business before the holiday. However, deliveries scheduled during the Spring Festival should be avoided due to staff being out of the office. Shipping is best to occur before or after the festival.

An expat working at a Tianjin consulting company expects revenue to dip during Spring Festival due to management teams delaying decisions until after the holiday, as they too will be out of the office and/or travelling.

Last but certainly not least, is the feedback from a local Tianjin taxi driver on the impact the Spring Festival will have on business. They expect a drop in income. This is due to two factors: one, in general terms there will be far less people in Tianjin during the Spring holiday as so many return home to be with family during this festive time; second, they themselves will work less, as they too plan to personally take time off to be with family and visit friends.

To sum up the business impact of the Spring Festival in Tianjin, a few things should be noted. First, outside of the travel, hospitality and retail sectors, businesses may actually see a dip in revenue during the Spring Festival. This is largely due to most workers taking time off. Second, on a personal level like the companies they work for, perhaps earning will be less, but this reduction in pay doesn't reduce their excitement and enthusiasm for the Spring Festival.

To sum up the business impact of the Spring Festival in Tianjin, a few things should be noted.

Several references have been made to the New Year calendar and some refer to the Chinese New Year as the Lunar New Year. The official calendar in China is the Gregorian calendar but for several Chinese traditional holidays, the lunar calendar is used. In addition to the Spring Festival, there is the Dragon Boat Festival 5th month 5th day, Mid Autumn Festival 8th month 15th day and Tom Sweeping Day - Qing Ming 4th month 4th day. Many Chinese birthdays use this calendars and especially in the countryside. Therefore it is common for your Chinese friends to have their ages wrong or unsure when you ask.

It is more common for them to remember their astrological sign and will often indicate what is their sign. This can lead to an error of twelve years older or younger but unlikely and excuses the rude question: "How old are you"?

2014 is the year of the Horse 马 Ma. Chinese believe that because horses are born to race or travel, all Horse people invariably leave home young. The Horse despises being pressured to act for the good of the group or made to feel guilty. No matter how integrated they seem to be, a Horse's inner self remains powerfully rebellious. Although they have boundless energy and ambition, Horses have a hard time belonging. The Horse is hot-blooded, hot-headed and impatient. Horse people are a bit of an egoist, well, selfish sometimes, that it is rare for them to interest themselves in any problems except their own. And though this egoist works only for themselves and for their own success, their work nevertheless benefits everybody.

The Horse is a worker, adepts at handling money and a good financier. But unfortunately, they are also famous for suddenly losing interest on something. In their relationship with the opposite sex, the Horse is weak. They will give up everything for love.

Being born a Horse, there are many contradictions in their character. Horses are proud yet sweet-natured, arrogant yet oddly modest in their approach to love, envious but tolerant, conceited yet humble. They want to belong; yet they are burdened by their need for independence. They need love and crave intimacy yet often feel cornered, pressured. But the truth is, the Horse is an individual, who depends only on their own wits and labor to get what they want.

So enjoy the Spring Festival and when you meet your friends, the greeting should be: Xīn Nián Kuài Le "Happy New Year" 新年快乐 or Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái "Congratulations and be prosperous"恭喜发财 (which is not really appropriate for a civil servant, especially with the recent crackdown on public corruption) so stick to the first phrase or this final one: Wàn Shì Rú Yì - "May all your wishes be fulfilled" 萬事如意. The latest greeting in the Year of Horse should be "mă shàng yŏu…", which means wishing you have something at once. If you wish upon something, write it down and put it on the back of a toy horse, your wish may come true. Mă shàng is "on a horse" and also means at once when put as a word.

Remember no housecleaning, no yelling or scolding the kids, do not get into arguments and have a great year of the Horse.