Story Voice

The Nian Monster: A Chinese New Year Story

The Nian Monster and the New Year is a classic story from Chinese Myths and Legends for Kids, for children aged 3–6. This page has the English story with a native English narration (about 2 min), plus the Chinese version with Mandarin narration (about 2 min). Free to read and listen, no sign-up.

Every New Year's Eve the monster Nian comes down from the mountains, until an old man shows a village that it fears red, fire and loud noise. The legend behind red paper, lanterns and firecrackers, in simple English with narration, plus the Chinese version in Mandarin.

0:001:07

Tap any sentence in the story to start reading from there. It stops at the end.

A narrator, and a voice of its own for each character: Nian, The old man, Grandma, Niuniu

Record about a minute of your voice, and every story here can be read to your child in it. Credits come back automatically if it fails.

Read The Nian Monster and the New Year

Long ago, a monster called Nian lived in the mountains. Every New Year's Eve it ran down to the village, scared everyone and ate all the food.

So every year the villagers hid in the hills. One year an old man came. Grandma was leaving with Niuniu. "Come with us, old sir! Hide in the hills!"

The old man smiled. "No need. Nian is afraid of red, fire and loud noise." He put red paper on the door and lit a fire. "Grandma, aren't we going?" asked Niuniu. "Tonight we do what he says."

At midnight Nian roared, "Here I come!" It saw the red paper and fire, and shrank back. The old man threw bamboo into the fire. Crack! Pop! Bang!

"Ow! Too red! Too bright! Too loud!" Nian ran back to the mountains and never returned. Niuniu clapped. "Grandma, Nian has run away!"

From then on, every New Year's Eve, families hung red paper, lit lanterns and set off firecrackers. Niuniu, in her red coat, was not afraid.

The Chinese version: 年兽的故事

很久以前，深山里住着一只怪兽，叫年兽。它头上长角，嘴巴很大，每到除夕晚上就下山，跑进村子吓人，把粮食吃个精光。

所以一到除夕，村里的人就躲到山上去。这一年除夕，天快黑了，一位拄着拐杖的老爷爷走进村子。奶奶拉着小孙女妞妞正要出门，连忙说：“老伯伯，快跟我们上山躲一躲吧！”

老爷爷笑眯眯地说：“不用躲。年兽最怕三样东西：红色、火光，还有响声。”他拿出一张红纸贴在大门上，在院子里点起一堆火，旁边放了一捆竹子。妞妞问：“奶奶，我们不上山了吗？”奶奶说：“今晚就听老爷爷的。”

半夜，山里传来一声吼叫：“吼——我来了！”年兽跑到门口，一看见红纸就眯起眼睛，一看见火光就往后缩。老爷爷把竹子扔进火里，噼里啪啦，响得像打雷。

年兽吓了一大跳：“哎哟！好红！好亮！好吵！”它捂着耳朵，掉头就往山里跑，再也不敢回来了。妞妞从门缝里看见，拍着手喊：“奶奶，年兽跑啦！”

从那以后，每到除夕，家家户户都贴红纸、点灯笼、放鞭炮，这就叫过年。妞妞穿上红衣裳，提着小灯笼，一点儿也不怕了。

The Nian Monster: A Chinese New Year Story: the moral of the story

Find out what a scary thing is afraid of, and it is not so scary any more. A family together, with the lamps lit and plenty of noise, is what Chinese New Year is for.

Chinese words in The Nian Monster and the New Year

Play the Chinese narration and listen for these words. The pinyin shows the tones.

  • 年兽nián shòu

    the Nian monster

  • 除夕chú xī

    New Year's Eve

  • 红纸hóng zhǐ

    red paper

  • 火huǒ

    fire

  • 响声xiǎng shēng

    loud noise

  • 灯笼dēng long

    lantern

  • 鞭炮biān pào

    firecrackers

  • 过年guò nián

    to celebrate the New Year

For families learning Mandarin

Mandarin learning pack

Print the story, read it together, then listen and say it back. Made for heritage families and children learning Mandarin.

  • A printable PDF (3 pages): the Chinese story with pinyin over every character, the words to know, the English version, questions to talk about, and character writing practice.
  • Slow Mandarin audio (5 min): every sentence at a gentler pace, followed by a pause long enough to say it back.

Buy once, download again any time. The story itself stays free to read and hear. Try the free sample pack (The Tortoise and the Hare) first.

Page one of the The Nian Monster and the New Year learning pack: the Chinese story with pinyin over every character

Bedtime storytelling tips

  • Give Nian a low, growly voice, but not a frightening one. By “Too red! Too bright! Too loud!” make it sound silly, so your child knows it is only a big beast that cannot stand a party.
  • Pause when the old man names the three things, hold up three fingers and count them together: red, fire, loud noise.
  • If you celebrate Chinese New Year, point out the red paper on the door, the lanterns and the firecrackers. In Chinese, “Happy New Year” is 新年快乐 (xīn nián kuài lè).

Things to talk about afterwards

  • What three things is Nian afraid of?
  • Why didn't the old man hide in the hills with everyone else?
  • What do you do at New Year? Which of those things would scare Nian the most?

Read this story to your child in your own voice

  1. Record your voice and confirm it's really you
  2. Pick any story, in English or Chinese
  3. A few minutes later, hear it in your voice; you can also download the MP3

From about $1.05 a story, or $1.99 for a first-order taster. Reading and listening are always free, and failed generations are refunded.

Read it in my voiceSee pricing

The Nian Monster: A Chinese New Year Story: common questions

What is the moral of the Nian monster story?
Once you know what a frightening thing is afraid of, it is not so frightening. The villagers hid year after year; the old man worked out that Nian fears red, fire and noise and sent it packing in one night. All the noise and colour of Chinese New Year is a family chasing fear away together.
Where does the Nian monster story come from?
It is a folk legend with no single written source. A 6th-century record of festivals, the Jingchu Suishiji, says people burned bamboo on New Year's morning so the cracking would frighten off mountain spirits, which is where firecrackers come from. The monster called Nian, and its fear of red, fire and noise, grew up in later storytelling.
Why is Chinese New Year red and loud?
In the legend, red, fire and loud noise are the three things Nian fears, so on New Year's Eve families hang red paper couplets, light red lanterns and set off firecrackers to keep it in the mountains. Today they are simply the happiest customs of the festival, and this story is the easiest way to explain them to a child.
Is there a Chinese version of the Nian monster story?
Yes. It is called 年兽的故事 (nián shòu de gù shi). This page has our Chinese retelling with Mandarin narration next to the English one, with the narrator and each character read by a different voice.

Source and how we retold it

A Chinese folk legend about the origin of the New Year, passed on by word of mouth with no single written source. The Jingchu Suishiji, a record of festivals from the 6th century, already says that on New Year's morning people burned bamboo in the courtyard so its cracking would scare off mountain spirits, and the idea that Nian fears red, fire and noise grew from such customs. The legend is in the public domain. In many tellings Nian eats animals and people; ours has it scare the village and eat the food. In the old version the old man stays behind alone; here Grandma and Niuniu stay too and help him.

The narration on this page is AI-generated: the English is read by our narrator and the Chinese by our narrator. The audio files are labeled as AI-generated.

If you liked The Nian Monster: A Chinese New Year Story, there are more stories in Chinese Myths and Legends for Kids. You can also read this one to your child in your own voice.

More Chinese Myths and Legends for Kids