春节倒计时：中国人过年都有哪些传统？(3)

腊月二十六这天，许多家庭通常都会炖猪肉和吃猪肉。不养猪的家庭会去当地集市买一大块肉。在过去的农业社会，人们只有在春节才能吃上肉。吃肉也代表着一年中最盛大的庆祝活动。

[Photo/CGTN]
Do the laundry, bathe or take a good shower. Those activities symbolize for washing off all the bad luck and potential illness in the upcoming Chinese New Year.
腊月二十七，人们会洗衣、沐浴或洗澡。这代表着洗掉过去一年所有的晦气，让来年百病不生。
In places like Beijing and Tianjin, an old tradition is to eat a rooster. Most people prefer a rooster instead of hen because of its majestic looking, and believe it will bring good luck.
在北京和天津等地还有吃公鸡的旧俗。多数人吃公鸡而不吃母鸡是因为公鸡外形雄伟，认为吃公鸡能带来好运。

[Photo/CGTN]
It"s a tradition to prepare in advance all staple food for the whole family to eat during the first week of Zheng Yue (the first month of the Lunar New Year). Usually, the staple food is flour-made because it"s easy to store. The activity starts from 28th and may last for one or two days.