Welcome to the Year of the Dragon!
Before i begin this blog i want to wish you all the best of Health and Wealth this year. For those Whether you are still in school fighting through your examinations or working under the stress of your career, let this strong Dragon fight by your side!
So, Chinese New Year. The celebration that lasts 15 days! We lucky to be part of it! So what actually happens during Chinese New Year? Let me give you an idea from my side of the story. haha!
Clean your Home!
Before the New Year is when Chinese Parents (mostly mothers)rush around the house cleaning up! This tradition is founded in the belief that cleaning the house at this time of year will "sweep away" the bad luck and makes the house ready for the good luck to start entering again.
The crazy traditional mothers would throw away the brooms, clothes they used to clean up the house afterwards so no "bad luck" remains.
Keeping fresh and hygienic is also an important part of celebrating! Many people go for a hair cut even.
Remember, all this happens before the New Year! You are not allowed to clean your home DURING the New Year! Including sweeping or wiping the windows! Because you may sweep or wipe away any the newly received Good Luck!
Decorate your Home!
The color that is most recommended is red and gold. Red is the color or symbol of good luck while Gold represents wealth. The number "8" also symbolizes good luck and wealth - the chinese word for eight rhymes with fortune or wealth.
Place flowers through the house, such as lotuses. Lotus flowers symbolize rebirth and new growth.
Set out a tray of candies with eight (yes the no.8 again lol) different types of candies arranged along it. The traditional candies are those made from lotus seeds, longan, peanuts, coconut, red melon seed, candied melon, etc.
Have a Traditional Dinner!
This is one of the most important parts of the holiday and the food eaten at this time of year has traditional meanings related to the Chinese New Year. Trust me, i once invited an non-chinese speaker to this meal and it was a bum trying to translate and explain the different meaning and names to each dish. So i rather not go through that here too lol.
Dress up for the Occasion!
If you have traditional Chinese clothing, this is the perfect time to wear it. If you don't, don't worry! Just wear something Red! In Hong Kong if you wear all black on this day, be prepared to be EYED up and receive a load of complaints by your family so please avoid wearing too much black during the celebration period. Black symbolizes bad luck and even death. - Most of my wardrobe is Black so i often just wear all black and paint my nails red or carry a red purse with me hehe.
Interact with others in a positive manner!
Chinese New Year is a time of happiness and good fortune and it's important to spread the goodwill. Avoid having any quarrels, fights, or negative attitudes during the New Year. These will bring you bad luck. Don't even swear or mention anything "bad". Not being able to curse was the worst part for me.
Visit your relatives and friends.
Chinese New Year is a time of connecting and sharing the celebrations together. It maybe boring to repeativaly say "Kung hei fat choy" to everyone which means: "We hope that you will be wealthy". But if you are not married, It's seriously worth it! Why? Because you will receive a RED POCKET filled with cash every time you greet and wish someone to be healthy and wealthy! These RED POCKET are usually given to the unmarried from the married.
Visit the Temple or Parade!
TIme to watch some Lion and Dragon Dancing and listen to loud festive music of drumming and fire crackers etc etc. The lions and dragons scare off the bad spirits along with the loud drumming. You can also head to temples to pray for good luck. If you are not of Chinese descent but would like to participate, attend a Chinese temple and take a tube of fortune sticks - Ask a question, shake the tube and the number that falls out first can be interpreted by one of the fortune tellers at the temple. Fun stuff!
Oh any last but not least. You must always have one light left on in your home throughout the New Years. It's bad luck to have an un lit up home.
So i hope you all enjoyed this blog! I know it was very long indeed!
Hope you all have a great Week!
Ah you're so gorgeous! CNY was so early this year D: I don't celebrate myself, but yay! YEAR OF THE G-DRAGON Hohohohoho
ReplyDeleteWell, I've been wearing some red shirts for the past week, and I always leave a Lamp or two on in the place when I'm out & about in any case, so that's pretty good so far, I've been having some dinners with a brother who I had not caught up with for the past few years, and going to hospital to spend some time with my Father, who is currently dying, which has made him feel a lot better, even though he is dying anyway, and has made my brother feel even happier to be with me again after so long, we've had so much talk to catch up on, and have been pigging-out on London's famous Fish 'n' Chips in the Paddington area, I've been trying to be happy and friendly with a variety of people, but have failed to please others, and even had some stress with one or two, but I'm trying my best, I did wear a black shirt, so that was a fail too, and I did swear bit, but hey, nobody's perfect anymore, I had a massive traditional dinner, so that was a bonus, and lucky too, I tidied up my place a bit, changed my bed and all the bedding etc, purchased a new 32" Plasma LED TV which I am happy with, a bundle of other new things that I treated myself to recently, and others whom I have given lots of treats to as well, so, all in all, I haven't done so bad this time, not a 100% perfect on the all of the expected traditions, but I do feel Lucky, even though I get aggro from certain people this week, I'm still confident that I've done enough to qualify for goof Luck in this the year of the Dragon. As for the temple, well I'll try, but might have to settle for a Catholic church, I don't want to put Gods nose out of joint, by visiting a different house and not visiting His, I still need to go and confess now & then, to let Him know I still believe in Him and His, so maybe I'll just do that, it's been a while since my last confession, and it is supposed to be good for the soul, so I got some luck from my traditional Chinese beliefs, and can still and pay tribute to the Lord and perhaps get some absolution for my sins from Him. As for decorating & DIY, sorry but I'm too old and lazy for all that malarkey nowadays!!!!!
ReplyDeleteAnyway, glad to hear that you are maintaining the traditions, that is paramount to Chinese culture, and of course, to be Lucky in this world is always desirable!
Good Luck in 2012.
BTW: it is to my knowledge very good luck to bestow a blessing on somebody right now, well any time really, but this year it will be even more powerful if we bestow blessing on people whom we feel really need one, as the blessings can come to you a thousandfold, and that is some serious Luck and well worth believing in. So, bestow a blessing on someone you know today, anybody who you feel could use one, like me for example...\☺/
Bless you too dear Lukian. Ciao ciao = Bye bye ☺/
Luck is interesting. I've always liked eight, and candy.
ReplyDeleteI <3 Chinese.
Uhoh, black with red nails. Mom is not happy.
Cash, good. Fortune stick telling would be really fun.
It's been an excellent week. Thank you, you're adorable. <3
I feel, as an ABC, BBC or CBC, we're so fortunate because we have the best of both worlds. We can feel right at home in own western birthplace country but at the same time find our own Chinese culture interesting (or amusing) and even appreciate it (sometimes even more than the locals themselves). Sure, there are times when we will meet up with those with nasty comments but we know better than to concern ourselves with others opinions.
ReplyDeleteYou know, I actually wasn't aware of the last bit about always having a light on at home. Thanks for the details!
Lukian, I wish you all the best in health, prosperity and happiness for the Year of the Dragon 2012! You take care of yourself.
Why i saw in Tv ppl call u " chun kuin" 春卷 ？？they were teasing ur bf.
ReplyDeleteRE: yapct
ReplyDeleteMy name was 春卷 in a TV show. People just got the hang of it i guess haha.