More emphasis should be given to the cultural connotations of traditional festivals.

How to observe Spring Festival has become a headache for many Chinese. People get tired of blasting commercials and advertisements. Preparing presents for relatives and money gifts for children is also pressuring many. Some low-income earners are left with feelings of frustration. Others worry about the upcoming social activities. Survey results show that a growing number of people consider Spring Festival an economic and mental burden.

At the same time, the cultural connotation of Spring Festival is fading. The cultural thoughts and emotional experiences of ushering out the old and ushering in the new are losing color. Many people worry that Spring Festival will finally become a materialistic event of spending on gifts, banquets and competition for luxuries. Not only Spring Festival but other traditional festivals like Lantern, Duanwu and Mid-Autumn Festivals.

Festivals are actually opportune moments when national culture is presented. The festivals are the symbols of national culture. What festivals a nation has and how they are celebrated can represent the spiritual values of the nation. More importantly, the festivals provide opportunities to display culture's attractiveness. That is why people around the world tend to protect the pureness of their festival cultures.

Compared with religious festivals like Christmas and Corban, Chinese folklore festivals are hard to keep to unified themes. But there are similarities in keeping their cultural connotations.

Each festival has its special cultural meaning and colorful keynote. If we can give full play to the cultural characteristics, Chinese festivals will represent the rich cultural traditions of our nation to the world.

The reality, however, is that our festivals are becoming pretexts for commercial promotions. They boost the economy but have lost their cultural glamour. If things go on like this, the national culture will be threatened.

That is also a reason that some scholars urged the government to apply to list Spring Festival on the register of the world's intangible cultural heritage. The essence of this application is not to protect the festival but to protect the true meaning of Chinese culture.

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