Chinese New Year is celebrated by many people all over the world. It is a very significant occasion for the Chinese. It is also known as the spring festival. The Chinese believes in getting together during this festive season, hence no matter how far they are away from home, they will usually make an effort to be united with their family.
There are many Chinese beliefs and practices for the New Year. For eg one should not wash one’s hair nor sweep the floor on the first day, as hair sounds like luck in Mandarin and sweeping the floor will mean sweeping away your luck. Auspicious greetings are heard whenever one meets another on this joyous occasion. Greetings such as “Nian Nian You Yu”, “Gong Xi Fa Cai” are commonly used and these greetings are link with prosperity and luck.
Each year before the Chinese New Year, we will have to clean and tidy up our home. This is necessary as it signifies sweeping away all the bad luck and start the year afresh. I have always find this a chore as it is extremely tiring to clean up the whole house over a few days. However, hard work always pays off. My relatives always envy my home as it is spick and span. Shopping for the New Year and getting a new hair cut are the essential activities too.
The Chinese animal signs are a 12-year cycle used for dating the years. Every year is assigned an animal name or “sign” according to a repeating cycle : Rat, Ox , Tiger,, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar. Therefore every twelve years the same animal or “sign” would reappear. This year is the year of the tiger. I am born in the year of the rat, though most of my friends at the same age are born in the year of the Ox. This is because I am born a few days before the Chinese New Year. In the lunar calendar I am considered as an year end child.
As part of the Chinese New Year celebration, the elders and the married couples will give children “ang pow”. These are red packets which signify prosperity, blessing and good luck. I love visiting my relatives during this period, not only will I be richer with the money collected in the red packets, I also get to see my relatives whom I have not met for a year. Usually for each relative I visit , I will be treated with many delectable New Year Cookies.
This year, the first day of Chinese New Year falls on the 14 February which is also the Valentine’s day. The Chinese will celebrate the New Year for 15 days. On the seventh day , it is known as the “Ren Ri” which means the birthday of every human being. On that day, special dishes such as “seven variety of vegetables” and raw fish will be served.
Oh ! I will have to wait for another year before my favourite festive season will be around the corner again.
