the legend of CNY

Long time ago, there was a ferocious beast called Nian, which had a lion-type head with elephant-type body. Nian couldn't find food in the cold winter time because many animals hibernate in the mountains. Therefore, it must go down every Lunar New Year's Eve to devour livestock and human beings. Nian was too strong to be killed. To escape from Nian, people closed their doors before dusk, and stayed up late on Lunar New Year's Eve. To pass time, the villagers drank wine to muster their courage. The villagers would put food in front of their doors as they believed that after Nian ate the food, it wouldn't attack anyone. They would only leave their homes the next morning when the beast was no longer around.
One Lunar New Year's Eve, Nian attacked a village south of YangTze River (China) where nobody survived except a newly married couple and a few children. The couple were dressed in red and were in a room dawned woth red curtains while the children were in the yard, lightning firecrackers. When the beast heard the explosive sounds from the burning firecrackers, it ran away. Hence, it occurred to people that the colour red, bright lights, and loud sounds were the things that Nian feared most.
So the villagers cut red peach wood to hang on the door and lighted campfire in front of their door on the eve of new year. When Nian approached the village, people lit the firecrakcers to make explosive sounds and beat the metal kitchen and farming utentils to make loud noises. Eventually, Nian who was terror-sticken, fled into the mountains and from then on, it never came to the village again.
People survived, celebrated and congratulated each other on the next day. The reason New Year's Eve is called "Guo-Noan" (passing Nian) in Chinese is because it is known as the day before the start of a new year, and the day of new year is known as "Xin Nian" (New Year). The existance of Nian brought the custom of pasting red paper-cuts, wearing red clotches, hanging red lanterns, beating drums and gongs, and setting off firecrackers. That is why till today we can still see many people practising this custom.