Chinese New Year, also known as the Chinese Spring Festival, has the highest position of all celebrations in China. The celebration lasts for fifteen days in the first month of the Chinese calendar, which for the western calendar starts between January 21 and February 21, it varies from year to year. Celebrations include decorations, parades, folk arts, and banquets. If you wish to participate in the celebrations, there are many things you can do to participate in the celebrations and to pay homage to Chinese traditions.
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Method 1 of 4: Preparing for the Holidays
Step 1. Clean the house
This tradition is based on the belief that cleaning the house at this time of the new year will "remove bad luck" that has accumulated over the past year. Cleaning also makes the house ready to welcome good fortune back in.
- Looking fresh and hygienic is also an important part of the celebration; even a new haircut will suffice.
- Do not clean the house while the celebration is in progress. Doing this will "take away" the good fortune you just received. For fifteen days, or at least a few days at the start of the celebration if you can't wait that long, you can be free from house-cleaning duties.
Step 2. Install the red decorations
In Chinese culture, red is a symbol for good luck and is commonly used for New Year's decorations. The number "8" also symbolizes luck and wealth, because the rhythmic pronunciation of the number eight is the same as luck or wealth.
- Glue the strip of paper on the window. These detailed pieces of paper usually depict rural life or Chinese mythology, and are usually placed on the north and south facing windows.
- Install Chinese New Year paintings and arts. Traditionally, these objects represent health and bounty, including animals and fruits. You can also put a picture of a "door god" on your door, which is traditionally used to fight evil spirits and bless your home.
- Hang calligraphy writing as decoration. You can write spring-themed verse or buy Chinese calligraphy and print it on red paper.
- Make decorations with paper lanterns. This item is made of red paper and is one of the decorations commonly used during Chinese New Year.
- Paint your door, door frame, or window pane red for a quick makeover!
Step 3. Arrange additional traditional decorations
Complement crafts and art with bowls of food, flowers, and other treats.
- Place flowers around the house, such as lotus flowers. The lotus flower symbolizes birth and growth.
- Place Mandarin oranges around the house. Mandarin oranges with the leaves still attached symbolize the fruit of happiness for the new year. Use even numbers and eat in pairs for good luck.
- Provide a place to put eight candles. Eight is a lucky number. You can place a variety of treats in your candle holder, or traditional Chinese sweets made from lotus seeds, longan, nuts, coconut, red melon seeds, or candied melon.
Step 4. Praise the kitchen god
Seven days before the new year, it is said that the god of the kitchen reports to the jade emperor about the state of the household. Give him your best behavior, and offer him an offering of fruit, candy, water, or other food. Some people burn images of the kitchen god to send him to heaven in the form of smoke.
In some areas, people traditionally prepare tofu two days in advance to honor the kitchen god and eat the remains of the tofu to show frugality when the jade emperor reads the report from the kitchen god. You can replace this traditional dish with a better tasting portion of tofu if you like
Method 2 of 4: Celebrating Chinese New Year
Step 1. Wear the right clothes
If you have traditional Chinese clothes, this is a great time to wear them. Clothing can be purchased in Chinatown, including beautiful silk garments. Red clothes are associated with joy, happiness, safety, wealth and good fortune, which will ensure that you participate fully in the spirit of celebration. Gold is another suitable color; Try to combine the two colors for a festive look.
Avoid wearing too much black during festive times. The black color symbolizes bad luck and even death. This is the time for good fortune and life
Step 2. Visit the pagoda
People celebrating Chinese New Year visit the temple to pray for good fortune during the New Year celebrations. There they burned incense and received a prophecy about their fate. Most of the temples receive visits from people who are not of Chinese descent.
You can find a lucky stick tube near the entrance of the pagoda. Ask questions and shake the tube until a numbered stick comes out. One of the fortune tellers can interpret it for you
Step 3. Light the fireworks
Set off fireworks at midnight when the new year begins. The fireworks used in China and Hong Kong make a very loud sound. The loud sound that is raised is to scare away evil spirits, to prevent evil spirits from bringing bad luck.
- Many people continue to set off fireworks for the fifteen days of celebration, or at least four to eight days before they have to return to work. Familiarize yourself with the sounds and excitement if you live in a Chinese community!
- Fireworks are prohibited in some countries and regions, but you can watch official fireworks displays.
Step 4. Give the gift or money in a red envelope
Adults give lucky envelopes filled with money to children during this holiday. Sometimes they also give it to their employees or friends.
Step 5. Pay homage to ancestors
Show gratitude and respect for what your ancestors did. There are many traditions associated with this if you choose to follow them, such as bowing to a shrine dedicated to them or offering food and drink as a sacrifice.
Step 6. Interact with others in a positive manner
Chinese New Year is a time for happiness and good luck and it is very important to spread good will. Avoid quarrels, fights, or negative behavior during the new year, as doing so will bring bad luck.
- Visit your relatives and friends to share new year moments with them.
- Greet others with "Gong Xi", which is pronounced "gong zi", which means "Congratulations!" longer congratulations include Gong Hei Fat Choi or Gong Xi Fa Chai in cantonese and mandarin.
Method 3 of 4: Eating Traditional Cuisine
Step 1. Learn about Chinese cuisine and their eating traditions
The main course is usually served on New Year's Eve, before the start of the holiday at midnight. There are many food offerings, but some foods have special meanings:
- Jiu, a traditional liquor, and daikon, a Chinese radish that symbolizes longevity.
- Red chili symbolizes good luck.
- Rice guarantees harmony.
- Fish, chicken, or other small animals are usually served whole and cut into pieces on the table. It reminds of unity and prosperity.
Step 2. Make dumplings for the lantern festival
This cake is filled with a variety of sweet foods and eaten during the fifteen days of the Chinese New Year celebrations.
Any shape of dumplings can play an important role during Chinese New Year celebrations because of their resemblance to ancient Chinese gold or silver coins
Step 3. Cook your own food
If you want to do more than just order at a local Chinese restaurant, try these traditional Chinese New Year-friendly recipes:
- Cooking Chinese dumplings. Use generous portions of cabbage or turnips to celebrate prosperity. If you want, you can hide a coin or other object in one of the cakes for the lucky person to find.
- Make spring rolls. Spring rolls are named after the celebration of spring, so this is the perfect time to eat them!
- Serve lots of fish. Fish is a sign of prosperity. Serve the fish whole and cook just enough to have leftovers – that's a sign of good luck!
- Make fried pot stickers cake. Pot stickers are a kind of dumpling, and any dumplings are welcome at Chinese New Year's Eve banquets.
- Serve Chinese noodles with peanut sauce. Long, uncut noodles are another symbol of longevity and can be served with a variety of sauces.
- Cook prawns with Chinese lobster sauce. This is one of the signature dishes of China, but there are many different recipes you can use, from traditional Chinese dishes to Chinese dishes invented in the United States.
- Make decorated "tea eggs". This one has nothing to do with the new year, but a unique Chinese dish served as a garnish and an appetizer at the same time.
Method 4 of 4: Watching the Parade
Step 1. Find a parade venue in your area
Look for info on the internet or in local newspapers for information on the Lunar New Year parade. This event is usually held on the weekend closest to the Lunar New Year, not during the Lunar New Year, or maybe outside the New Year period itself.
- Remember to bring a camera and wear warm clothes if you're celebrating spring festivals in an area that experiences winter!
- If you live near San Francisco then you're in luck: the annual Lunar New Year parade held here is said to be the largest and oldest outside Asia.
Step 2. Watch the parade online or on television
In the United States, the largest parades are usually broadcast on local or regional television. In China, the national China Central Television broadcaster (CCTV) station attracts hundreds of millions of viewers with its annual midnight spring festival.
Step 3. Pay attention to any special dances
Apart from fireworks, food, activities and music, the Lunar New Year parade is a rare opportunity to witness dancing in dragon and lion costumes.
- The dancers of the dragon dance skillfully match their movements in a line, holding the pole that supports the long dragon that is moved. Dragons are a common symbol in Chinese mythology, where they are respected symbols by the state and society.
- Two lion dancers dance in a costume depicting a lion. The lion is a majestic character in Chinese mythology. But the dances sometimes include comic elements such as a goofy monk helping a lion to track a lettuce.
- Both dances are accompanied by the sound of traditional Chinese drums.
Step 4. Celebrate the lantern festival
On the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year celebrations, people celebrate among the many paper lantern decorations. In some cities great works of art were made from lanterns.
- Some people write riddles on lanterns for the children to answer.
- Now it's time to eat the traditional sweet dumplings filled with assorted condiments. This cake is called tangyuan or yuanxiao.
- Light candles on this day to guide good spirits into the house.
Tips
- There are many ways to celebrate Chinese New Year, from the special rituals associated with each day of the festival to the local traditions of a particular region of China. Don't be surprised by the sheer variety; try to learn more about the different ways as you go through it.
- Many of the decorative themes used in China include fish, lanterns, lions, dragons, gods of fortune, and new year's zodiac signs.
- If you have a religion, pray. This includes praying for the dead and various Chinese gods. There are special days used for prayer.
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The following are auspicious herbs to carry:
- The blossoming peach tree flower symbolizes good luck
- Kumquat and narcissus symbolize prosperity
- Chrysanthemum symbolizes longevity
