Traditional Spring Festival decorations

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Paper-cuts adorning windows also express best wishes and fortune for the coming year.

The Door Gods is also an option. The famous ancient  warriors are believed to help drive away evil.(CCTV.com)

Paper-cuts are always made of red paper...as the color red is considered lucky and is believed to scare away evil.

The handicraft always draws on the signs of the Chinese zodiac.

And 2008 is the Year of Rat.

Tradition also uses word play.

The Chinese word "Fu", is a common design. The character means "good fortune."

It's common for Chinese to paste "Fu" upside down as the Chinese word for upside down ,"Dao", is a homonym of "arrival".

The inverted "Fu" means blessings have arrived.

In the past, Chinese often made elaborate new year decorations themselves. Many were proud of writing couplets and doing paper-cuts by their own clever hands.

Nowadays, most people buy these manufactured New Year decorations, which fill the market with a festive atmosphere.

Beijing Resident, said, "I've been doing my annual spring festival shopping for years. The market provides various types of new year decorations. It's convenient for customers."

Many worry the custom of making new year decorations oneself may be lost in an increasingly modern world.

Paper-cuts adorning windows also express best wishes  and fortune for the coming year.(CCTV.com)

But in this classroom, the tradition is being kept alive.

Primary school students are spending their spare time there to learn how to do traditional new year paintings, as part of winter camp activities.

Primary School Students in Beijing, said, "I will put my new year painting on walls, because the painting with the rat design will scare away all the rats in my home."

Although most of them are too young to understand the rich Chinese culture, they say they love drawing the New Year paintings.

The camp is holding a contest, and some of the entries have been put up on the blackboard.

For these children, the next generation, Spring Festival will continue to begin on the wall.

Editor:Zhang Pengfei