腊八蒜

　　LABA GARLIC 

　　In North China there is a custom of pickling garlic（浸泡大蒜） in vinegar on Laba Day. After some pickling, the garlic will turn green. This pickled garlic goes very well with dumplings. In Chinese, the words “garlic” and “calculate” have the same pronunciation; therefore, eating garlic on Laba Day is symbolic of reckoning（计算） the year’s income and expenses as year-end approaches.

　　在中国的北方有一个习俗，在腊八节的时候把蒜泡到醋中，经过醋的浸泡后，蒜会变的通体碧绿。经过醋泡过的蒜和饺子一起吃更配哦~在中国“蒜”与“算”同音，随着年底的临近，在腊八节那天吃蒜是计算整年收支的象征。

　　腊八面

　　LABA NOODLES 

　　Because northerners like foods made from wheat flour, they eat Laba noodles on Laba Day.

　　因为北方人喜欢吃小麦面粉做的食物，所以在腊八节那天他们吃腊八面。

　　煮五豆

　　BOILING FIVE KINDS OF BEANS

　　In some areas, people boil five kinds of beans and make a dough （面团）in the shape of sparrow’s head on the eighth day of the 12th lunar month. They believe if they eat “sparrow heads”, the sparrows will have headaches and not harm their crops in the coming year.

　　有一些地区，人们在农历十二月初八那天煮五种豆子，并将面团揉成一个麻雀的头的形状。人们相信如果吃“麻雀头”，麻雀就会头疼，来年它们就不会伤害农作物。

　　吃冰

　　EATING ICE

　　Northerners have a custom of leaving a basin of water outside the house to be frozen; they break this ice into pieces and eat it on Laba Day. The ice on this day is said to possess supernatural power, capable of keeping those who eat it free from stomachache for a whole year.

　　北方人有一个习俗，他们在房子外面放一盆水等水冻成冰，在腊八节那天把冰捣碎并把它吃掉。据说，这天的冰拥有超自然的力量，它能让吃了的人一整年都不会肚子疼。