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About Chinese / Lunar New Year
Family is really important for Chinese/Lunar New Year Holidayopolans. Like many major holidays, such as Christmas Eve, for instance, it’s the time to take a break from work and travel home before dinner time on Chinese/Lunar New Year’s Eve. It’s essential that all family members spend time together. Before the reunion dinner, we clean our place thoroughly to welcome the new year, and decorate the house with new year couplets. Praying to our ancestors for protecting the whole family are the tradition. Then it’s time to sit at the round table with delicious dishes on the lazy susan and catch up with our family.
On Chinese New Year’s Eve:
- Reunion Dinner: Enjoy all the delicious dishes with family members (Welcome to go to our 開飯 KAI FUN KITCHEN to see all the delicious dishes!)
- Red Envelope: Elderlies will prepare Lucky Money in a red envelope and give it out to their younger family members to wish them well in the new year.
- Firecrackers & Stay Up: Welcome the new year and scare the monster, Nian
On The First Day:
走春 zǒu chūn: Check Fengshui, pick a lucky time and direction and wear new clothes in the morning! Get ready to visit the temples for good luck for the new year, and visit friends’ places to wish them well.
On The Second Day:
回娘家 huí niángjiā: The married daughter returns to her parents’ house with their husband and children.
One The Fifth Day:
開工 kāigōng: Businesses will prepare food to pray for the luck for the business for the whole year.
On The Lantern Festival (15th Day):
- Carry a Lantern and have a promenade, which means to have a bright future
- 湯圓 tāngyuán: to wish all the family members happy, and to hope that the family will always stay together
A legend of the Monster, Nian
Once upon a time, there was a monster named Nian living in the mountains. Nian came down to the village to steal food and scared villagers at the end of each year. The villagers hated Nian and didn’t want Nian to come to the village. Later, the villagers figured out that Nian was afraid of red color and loud sounds. People started to set off the firecrackers and stuck on the red spring couplets to scare Nian away to protect the village.
Year of Dragon (2024)
Year of Rabbit (2023)
Year of Tiger (2022)
Chinese Zodiac has 12 animal signs and each year is represented by an animal which repeats in a cycle of 12 years. The order of the 12 animals are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig, and this year is the Year of Tiger. The order of the animals comes from an ancient story called: “The Myth of the Great Race.” Thousands of years ago, the Jade Emperor is said to have held a great race to name each of the 12 zodiac years and invited all of the animals in the kingdom to participate. The race involved crossing a great river, which would prove challenging for many. The tiger came in third, and so is the third animal of the Chinese Zodiac.
Chinese people are familiar with certain characteristics of each zodiac animal sign and believe that people’s personalities match to their own zodiac signs of their birth years. Tigers are known to be a symbol of the brave. People who are born in the year of Tiger are believed to have similar traits.
Year of Ox (2021)
Chinese Zodiac has 12 animal signs and each year is represented by an animal which repeats in a cycle of 12 years. The order of the 12 animals are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig.
Chinese people are familiar with certain characteristics of each zodiac animal sign and believe that people’s personalities match to their own zodiac signs of their birth years. For example, oxs are valuable in Chinese agriculture, so the sign of Ox represents hard working, strength, intelligence and reliable characteristics. People who are born in the year of Ox are believed to have similar personalities.
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