美国有线新闻 CNN 中国将迎猪年 春运拉开大帷幕

 

Which of these animals is not featured on the Chinese Zodiac, an astrological calendar cycle? Ox, Bear, Pig or Rooster. The animals that repeat every 12 years in the Chinese zodiac do not include a bear.

But they do include the pig and February 5th is when the year of the pig begins, it's also year 4717 on the Chinese calendar. The Lunar New Year is a massive celebration for China. People travel hundreds of thousands of miles to be with their families. And because the country's population is nearly 1 billion 400,000, the holiday triggers what'????s known as the largest annual human migration¹.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: 2019 may be the year of the pig but like every Lunar New Year, it's also the year of the crush during a 40 day period leading up to and after the Lunar holiday, and the rush is already underway. More than 400 million Chinese holiday travelers will take the train. Over the 15 days of the festival itself, from February 5th to February 19th, rail authorities are bracing² for a near 9 percent increase on last years numbers. That works out at more than 9.5 million in passengers a day.

Some 73 million people are expected to choose air travel. That means there will be about 15,600 planes in the sky everyday of the holiday. But the road remains³ the most popular way of traveling, mostly by bus during the Lunar New Year period.

A more enjoyable holiday tradition is the Zigong Lantern Festival which runs until March 1st. Some of the lanterns are up to 22 meters tall. It's a blaze of color and imagination with birds, fish and of course pigs lighting⁴ up the dark winter nights. The festival dates from the Tang Dynasty around 618 A.D.

1 migration   

n.迁移，移居，（鸟类等的）迁徙

参考例句：

• Swallows begin their migration south in autumn.燕子在秋季开始向南方迁移。
• He described the vernal migration of birds in detail.他详细地描述了鸟的春季移居。

2 bracing   

adj.令人振奋的

参考例句：

• The country is bracing itself for the threatened enemy invasion. 这个国家正准备奋起抵抗敌人的入侵威胁。
• The atmosphere in the new government was bracing. 新政府的气氛是令人振奋的。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。