Do I need to post couplets only on the large iron gates of the courtyard on both sides?

No, generally it is enough to affix the front door and back door. You still have to affix couplets according to local customs.

Posting Spring Festival couplets is a very important custom during the Chinese New Year. Whether in cities or rural areas, every household will post carefully selected Spring Festival couplets on the door of their home. Spring couplets also add more festive atmosphere to us.

Thousands of households are getting rid of old days and always replacing old talismans with new ones. Every year during the Spring Festival, we can see that every household tears off the old Spring Festival couplets and replaces them with new ones. Houses in rural areas are generally single-family houses, and each house usually has two or three floors. Then such a house will have a lot of doors, and not all doors need to be pasted with Spring Festival couplets. In our hometown, usually the front door and the back door on the first floor need to be pasted with Spring Festival couplets. The Spring Festival couplets posted are also those that pay attention to the doors. They are all larger, and the back door itself is smaller, and the back door is usually the kitchen. This pair of Spring Festival couplets is much smaller than the main door. Only these two doors will be pasted with Spring Festival couplets, and if you like the other doors, you can just post a blessing character. On the first floor, the word "Fu" is usually posted on the door, but on the second and third floors, it is no longer posted. The details still depend on local customs, which are different in each place.

The time to post Spring Festival couplets is usually on the morning of New Year’s Eve. Every time you put up Spring Festival couplets, there is a sense of ritual. You need to tear off the previous Spring Festival couplets, then place new ones, and then put a bunch of firecrackers on them. This represents welcoming the new year and receiving blessings. After the firecrackers are set off, it’s time to put up Spring Festival couplets. Every year when I put up Spring Festival couplets, I will be a little helper on the side. Spring couplets actually represent the appearance of a family.

Every year on the morning of New Year’s Eve, some porridge is left out, and the Spring Festival couplets are pasted with rice paste. In this way, the Spring Festival couplets are less likely to be blown away by the wind. Transparent tape and double-sided tape are easy to be blown away by the wind. Blow it down, this is too bad. Most families in the village used this method to post Spring Festival couplets, and the effect was very good. On New Year's Eve the next year, they were still posted on the door.