On New Year's Eve, it has been an important Spring Festival custom for the whole family to stay up throughout the midnight chatting with each other and waiting for the first day of the New Year to come. This is called Shou Sui, or Shou Nian, Ao Nian. There are also folk stories about its origin.

Legend has that Shou Sui is for bringing in good fortune and avoid evil spirits. In ancient times, since the Monster Nian would hurt villagers in the midnight of the New Year’s Eve, people didn't dare to go out of their homes, so they stayed and drank to embolden themselves, praying that they could live this night safely. Besides, the Monster Sui would terrify children, so parents stayed awake and accompanied them all night. In this sense,Shou Sui can be referred to suppressing the monsters. Moreover, light of fires and candles was considered to be able to drive away diseases and ghosts and bring in health and good fortune, so people lit up their rooms all night to usher in a bright and well-off new year. Now it has evolved into its modern form of staying up late for people to stay with relatives and friends, watching CCTV New Year Gala, playing cards or mahjong, and snatching Wechat red envelopes.

Shou Sui has two traditional implications: for the elderly, they stay up to say farewell to the past time and welcome the coming year with best wishes; for the youngsters, it is believed that they staying up late could bring their parents longevity and their family prosperity. The longer children stay awake, the longer their parents will live in that the Chinese character Sui also has the meaning of age.