[Ask Rudi]-怎么跟老外侃我们的“春节”

　　Spring Festival in Chinatown

　　唐人街上庆新春

　　安徽的Lydia问：

　　Rudi你好，你知道，春节是中国最重要的传统节日，所以我想知道在外国居住的中国人是怎样过春节的。外国人对春节了解多少？另外，你可以告诉我一些与春节相关的英语词汇吗？

　　Rudi：

　　Lydia你好，可以说在某种程度上，全世界都在庆祝春节。随着海外华人越来越多，这一庆典也越来越隆重，备受关注。一般的西方人都会对春节有所了解，而且他们听说过十二生肖，还知道春节对中国人来说是举家团圆的节日，很像我们的圣诞节。下面我介绍了三个西方城市的春节庆典，希望能使你对海外华人欢度春节的方式有更多的了解。

　　San Francisco 旧金山

　　One of the most famous Chinatowns in the world is in San Francisco. The first major celebration of Chinese New Year in the city took place in the 1860's. By then the town had a large Chinese population. Like other immigrants, they had come to California to work on the railroads and prospect for gold. They were eager to celebrate and display the traditional culture of their homeland. Interestingly, they used an American method to do this – a parade. They invited members of other groups to join them as they paraded down Grant Avenue and Kearney Street carrying colourful flags, banners and lanterns, while beating drums and gongs, and letting off firecrackers to ward off evil spirits.

　　在世界最为著名的唐人街中，有一个就位于旧金山。旧金山首次较大规模地庆祝春节是在19世纪60年代。那时，城里居住着很多中国人。像其他移民一样，他们来到加利福尼亚是为了修建铁路和淘金。他们渴望庆祝和展示祖国的传统文化。有趣的是，他们是以美国的方式来实践的——游行。他们一边手拿彩旗、横幅和灯笼，一边敲锣打鼓、放炮驱鬼，沿着都板街和科尔尼大街行进，此时他们还会邀请一些来自其它社团的人加入到他们中来。

　　As the years progressed so did the parade. In the 1970's the parade had to be rerouted to wider streets, as it had grown too large for the original route. By the eighties it had started attracting corporate sponsorship and television coverage. Today the San Francisco Chinese New Year Festival and Parade attracts over three million spectators and television viewers.

　　游行队伍逐年扩大。到了20世纪70年代，游行队伍把路线改到了更为宽阔的街道，因为原有路线已容不下过于壮大的队伍了。到了（20世纪）80年代，它开始吸引大公司赞助以及电视转播。而今，旧金山的中国新年和游行庆典吸引着300多万名围观者以及电视观众。

　　Another popular part of the celebrations in San Francisco is the Miss Chinatown USA competition. This is a type of beauty pageant similar to Miss America but the participants are all young Chinese-American women. The contestants will be judged on their knowledge of Chinese customs and will be asked questions in Chinese and English.

　　在旧金山的庆典活动中，另一个广受欢迎的部分便是“美国中国城小姐”大赛。这是一种类似于“美国小姐”大赛的选美活动，只不过所有参加者都是年轻的华裔美国女性。参赛者接受评判的标准是其对中国传统习俗的掌握程度，并且还将接受中英双语的提问。