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How to celebrate Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year

By Ayodha UshaniPublished 3 years ago 3 min read
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How to celebrate Chinese New Year
Photo by Humphrey Muleba on Unsplash

Lunar New Year is celebrated all across Southeast and East Asia by many countries and cultures that consider the moon to be an integral way in which to tell the passing of the days. Depending on which country you celebrate Lunar New Year the way that you celebrate it would change. However, integral festivities will not change. Let's take a look at what they are.

Catch Up with Family and Friends

While Chinese New Year as it is called in the West, is celebrated with parades in Chinatown for the most part, back home in the East, it brings entire countries to a halt. Asian families are very tight-knit and filial. The New Year is one of the opportunities for the whole family to get together and celebrate their relationships. Whole families turn up at their ancestral or the largest family house and beds and blankets are wrestled together, and the kitchen becomes a nonstop cooking war zone. Specific new year delicacies such as moon cakes or dumplings are made by the dozens. This tradition is one of the most powerful Lunar New Year traditions that it has been dubbed "the world's largest human migration." Just in 2019, over three billion trips were made worldwide because of Lunar New Year. The holiday is considered one of the most crowd-gathering cultural festivals around the world.

Brighten Up with Some Colour

Scarlet or red and gold is strongly associated with Lunar New Year celebrations around the world. Red is said to bring good fortune and prosperity and is often used in decorating the house and other establishments in a bid to welcome wealth and encourage prosperity. In China, fruit trees and flower decorations are brought indoors by the dozen to decorate the premises. In Vietnam, the peach blossom is considered a decoration that would bring good fortune to the household. In Korea, they place cut-outs of magpies and cranes who are the symbols of good fortune for the local people.

Share Wealth with Loved Ones

Just as red brings prosperity, it is in red packets or envelopes that elders give cash prizes to the younger members of their family and vice versa during Lunar New Year. Depending on the relationship the envelope can contain a small sum or quite a large amount of money. In Asian companies, employees receive a red envelope from their employer with what they call the New Year's bonus. It is often the unmarried employees who received this. In Korea, the presents come in a red cloth satchel. There are also wishes for the receiver's prosperity and good health within. Meanwhile, in Tibet, the younger children gift their elders. They dress in traditional clothing and take baskets of new year goodies to their elders to pay respects and spend the day being helpful.

Watch a Traditional Show and Fireworks Display

If you visit sites such as Events and Festivals Blog, you will find that each country has a plethora of traditional shows that almost always include pyrotechnics. For Lunar New Year in China, there would be a fireworks display said to scare Nian – a lion-like monster who devours human flesh on a full moon if not scared away. Japan and Korea are among the countries that end the festivities with a massive firework display that is attended by all. There are also street food stands, traditional outdoor dance displays and processions.

Clean Out Last Year's Clutter

The Lunar New Year is the time to "Marie Kondo" your clutter. Spring cleaning in Asia happens in the days leading up to Lunar New Year. Windows are scrubbed until they are spotless, old clothes are donated or trashed and new clothes are bought. People believe getting rid of the dust enables good fortune to come into the house.

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