Adra Writes

Happy Chinese New Year my friends. In this post, I wanted to share some fun facts about Chinese New Year, the grandest festival time in China, and other Asian countries such as Vietnam, Korea, and Tibet.

First off this festival has several different names including Chinese New Year, Spring Festival, and Lunar New year. The date is different each year but it usually occurs January 21st – February 20th during the Gregorian calendar. The date is calculated based on the first new moon of the lunar calendar, hence Lunar New Year.

This very day is the Eve of New year, so February 12th will be the first official day of the Year of the Ox.

How to celebrate?

Every town, city, and home is decorated in traditional red lights, lanterns, and other decorations wishing good fortune and luck for the coming year. I personally love all of the signs in windows along the streets wishing us fortune, good health, happiness, and such. They are so lively and beautiful among the lanterns and lights.

Usually, the weeks leading up to New Year’s eve is spent deep cleaning every aspect of a persons’ life and home. All week this week, my students have been telling me about cleaning their cars, work desks, homes, etc… in preparation for the New Year. It is essential to remove all of the old to have a good and prosperous coming year. It is also common for people to purchase new items such as clothes and bed sheets to prepare for the New Year as well.

Of course, most people return to their hometowns for a least two weeks to spend time with their family. Last year this was not possible due to COVID-19 and even this year I am getting mixed news from people who can and cannot travel to their parents and hometowns. It depends on their city and personal safety concerns are my understanding.

Either spending the New Year with family or staying in respective work cities, a large dinner is in order. Different foods are consumed for different reasons but my personal favorite is dumplings. Oh, how I miss Chinese dumplings even as a weekend treat. It is typical for families to come together, and make large batches of dumplings to eat and also freeze. I always love returning to school following this festival because so many students tell me how they learned to make such and such dumpling with pride and joy.

Other important foods to eat for New Year are steamed or braised fish, glutinous rice balls, and spring rolls. Of course, menus vary from region to region, so please don’t take this as an absolute list for every household.

The next tradition is without a doubt why children and teenagers love New Year so much, besides being off from the long Fall semester, are Red Envelopes, also called red packets or hongbao in Chinese. These are beautiful envelopes that are filled with money and given to the younger generations by their elders. Of course, each packet has a different character on it to bestow blessings to their children. Now it is also common for people to share packets with other adults in their life as a blessing to them. The amount of money varies from person to person.

Some other fun traditions for Spring Festival are watching the New Year’s Gala, setting off firecrackers, watching a firework show in a major city, and visiting local shows and fairs.

All in all, it is a joyous and high spirited time of the year in China. I would say it has a very similar feeling to Christmas in the warmth and happiness that people have and share with each other.

How could you celebrate?
First off start by cleaning out the old in preparation for the New Year. I personally love this idea and I have tried my best to clean up and dust the past couple of days in preparation.

Try your hand at making some delicious Chinese dumplings. Some people may be intimidated by the idea, but they aren’t as difficult as you may think and they are more about spending time with friends and family than creating a perfect 18 fold dumpling. **Bonus – If you make a lot then freeze them, you have ready made dumplings for the future.

If nothing else, try to find a local business that is run by Chinese/Asian owners and show your support to them after a rough year of xenophobic attitudes toward Asians. I think this would also be a great way to observe the holiday and show support. Of course, check if the businesses are open as it is a holiday and they may choose to close their doors for the day.

If you enjoyed this post and would like to learn more about Chinese New Year please visit travelchinaguide.com. I use this site all the time to learn more about Chinese culture and travel tips around China.