“小孩小孩你别馋，过了腊八就是年。”过腊八，意味着拉开了过年的序幕。每到腊八节，北方地区忙着剥蒜制醋，泡腊八蒜，吃腊八面，喝腊八粥。Chinese people start their preparations（准备）for the Spring Festival more than 20 days ahead（提前）. The 12th lunar month（农历第十二个月） in Chinese is calledla yue（腊月）, so the eighth day of this lunar month is la yue chu ba, or Laba. This year, the Laba Festival is on January 7th