Chinese New Year | Chinese New Year Celebrations Part 1

Days Leading To Chinese New Year

On the days leading to the arrival of Chinese New Year, Chinese families can be seen busy spring cleaning their homes. This ensures all dirt and clutter (symbolising bad luck of the old year) are washed away, and their homes are ready for the arrival of good luck. Old clothings, broken items and things associated with unpleasant memories are disposed.

Decorations of Chinese auspicious words, symbols and flowers are displayed in the house to welcome good luck.  Everyone buys new clothings and footwear in preparation for the new year. Most people will have their hair cut or have a new hairdo to symbolize a new start. Homes are given a new coat of paint. All debts are to be paid off before the arrival of new year. With the arrival of Spring, Chinese New Year brings with it fresh hopes and essence of a new beginning for everyone.

Eve of Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year celebrations starts on the eve of the new year. It is also known as ‘Chu Xi’ in Chinese. Family members gather to have a reunion dinner. It is the most important feast for everyone in the whole year where the Chinese go to extra lengths to serve sumptuous and auspicious food and dishes, symbolizing prosperity and good wishes.

A popular method of cooking which many Chinese families enjoy doing together as part of reunion dinner is Steamboat. Basically, different types of fresh meat, seafood, vegetables, mushrooms, etc., are cooked in a hot pot filled with rich chicken or herbal bubbling soup. Traditional steamboat uses charcoal as a source of fire to heat up the broth but nowadays, modern steamboats are powered by portable gas canister or electricity.

Popular Chinese New Year Dishes

Below are some of the most popular Chinese New Year dishes;

• Fresh Oyster that symbolise ‘abundance’ while its Chinese name ‘Sheng Hao’ means ‘flourishing at its best’.
• Prawns symbolise ‘happiness, laughter and vigour’.
• Abalone or ‘Bau Yu’ in Chinese means ‘guaranteed abundance’.
• Dried Oysters, pronounce as ‘Hou See’ in Cantonese, means ‘all good things in life’.
• Raw Fish salad to welcome good luck, prosperity and long life.
• Black Moss or ‘Fatt Choy’ (edible hair-like seaweed) that ‘brings wealth and prosperity for everyone in the family’.
• A complete Chicken with its head and feet intact to symbolise ‘completeness’ for a good beginning and ending of the new year.
• Fish and Meat Balls with its round shape to symbolise ‘togetherness’.
• A complete Fish, which sounds like ‘surplus’ in Chinese, with its head and tail intact, to symbolise ‘surplus and abundance of wealth and food for the entire year’.
• Chinese Lettuce or ‘Sang Choy’ in Chinese sounds like ‘growth in riches and wealth’.
• Quail Eggs symbolise ‘gold ingots’.
• Bamboo Shoot or ‘Xun’ in Chinese, which means ‘smooth sailing’.
• Sea Cucumber is also another popular dish as its Cantonese name ‘Hoi Sam’ when literally translated means ’happiness’.
• Green Vegetables represent ‘evergreen’ which symbolise ‘everything remains perpetually fresh, interesting and well liked’.
• Lotus Roots which symbolise ‘family unity and togetherness’.
• Long Noodles represent ‘longevity’.
• Dumplings or ‘Jiao Zi’ which symbolise ‘wealth’ as its shape is like Chinese Tael or Ingot.

The family Rice Urn, which symbolises ‘the family’s continued prosperity’, is replenished. It is filled to the brim in preparation for the new year.

Popular Chinese New Year Auspicious Food Items

Every Chinese household is stocked up with abundance of Mandarin Oranges. Its Cantonese name ‘Kum’ means ‘gold’, and they are a must-have as they symbolise ‘bringing riches and fortune to the family’.

Pomelo or 'Loke Yau' in Cantonese, is also another popular fruit to have in a household as they symbolise ‘abundance’.

'Niangao' is a kind of sticky Chinese delicacies. 'Nian' in Chinese sounds like 'year', and 'Gao' sounds like 'high'. As such, eating 'Niangao' symbolises ‘the moving up or promotion of oneself to a higher status or level in every coming year’.

Visiting Temples Before Chinese New Year Starts

After the reunion dinner, some families visit local Taoist or Buddhist temples hours before the new year starts, to pray for happiness, good health and prosperity for the new year. Most of these temples will be crowded with devotees.

Start Of Chinese New Year

Once the clock strike 12 midnight, firecrackers are set off to mark the start of Chinese New Year. There are street celebrations and centralized outdoor events, such as performance of lion dance and dragon dance accompanied by the exploding sound of firecrackers. The loud noise coming from the firecrackers symbolises that all unhappy and bad events of the last year are totally removed, and it makes way for a good and prosperous new year.

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