Oh I like the topic about cultures and traditions. As we all know there are so many funny and interesting cultures in China. Some are based on historical reason, and some are based on people’s superstition. Too many Chinese festival and traditions which can take me ages to introduce all. So I just pick the one I favorite the most, and also it’s the most important among those. It is CHINESE NEW YEAR!! (also called LUNAR NEW YEAR)
There is no exact date of Chinese New Year, it varies from year to year. Normally it is in between the end of January and mid of February. It is a period of celebration, from 3days up to 10day. It depends on individual family. For my family, we usually do 3days!
There have been so many preparation work before the New Year. I hate it!!! The whole family needs to clean the house together and must get it done by New Year’s Eve. We take it seriously to get the house thoroughly cleaned, sweeping away any bad luck that may have accumulated over the past year. (We will never ever clean on the first few days of the New Year, it mean sweeping away all the good luck!!)
Then we gonna do some decorate! Normally we will decorate our house by hanging red lantern, and put some papercuts on doors and windows. We will stick some “Fai Chun”, a red paper with blessing phrase wrote on it on the wall.
(Me and my friends were writing “Fai Chun”, OMG, this was 6 years ago, hope you didn't realize me....)
After preparation, we gonna prepare a Tray of Togetherness. This is a circular or octagon-shaped tray with eight compartments, each filling in symbolic foods such as lotus seeds and lychee nuts, or some candy and chocolate which that provides a sweet beginning to the New Year. We will treat our guess with this Tray of Togetherness.
(Tray of Togetherness and “leisee” on top)
Then, it comes to the most exciting part! Food, eat! It is an important tradition that family members need to gather together and spend the evening preparing Chinese dumplings on New Year's Eve! We would hide a coin in one of the dumplings, and whoever eats the the dumpling with the coin will supposedly have good luck in the coming year.(So be careful not to swallow the coin lol). I also had a dumplings party with my friends on New Year's Eve this year in the UK! See everyone’s smiling face. BTW, I prepared all the food!! WOW!!
(Yeah we were making dumpling, and you can see most of us dressed in red which is the color of New Year)
Another tradition I like the most about the New Year is receiving packet money “leisee” from the senior family members. It is red packets decorated with gold symbols and filled with "lucky money". I love Chinese New Year so much
Do you find traditions of Chinese New Year interesting? Come and visit me in Hong Kong during the period and I will offer you the greatest experience of Chinese culture and an unforgettable festival!! You will also get “leisee” from my parent if you are not yet married
There is no exact date of Chinese New Year, it varies from year to year. Normally it is in between the end of January and mid of February. It is a period of celebration, from 3days up to 10day. It depends on individual family. For my family, we usually do 3days!
There have been so many preparation work before the New Year. I hate it!!! The whole family needs to clean the house together and must get it done by New Year’s Eve. We take it seriously to get the house thoroughly cleaned, sweeping away any bad luck that may have accumulated over the past year. (We will never ever clean on the first few days of the New Year, it mean sweeping away all the good luck!!)
Then we gonna do some decorate! Normally we will decorate our house by hanging red lantern, and put some papercuts on doors and windows. We will stick some “Fai Chun”, a red paper with blessing phrase wrote on it on the wall.
(Me and my friends were writing “Fai Chun”, OMG, this was 6 years ago, hope you didn't realize me....) After preparation, we gonna prepare a Tray of Togetherness. This is a circular or octagon-shaped tray with eight compartments, each filling in symbolic foods such as lotus seeds and lychee nuts, or some candy and chocolate which that provides a sweet beginning to the New Year. We will treat our guess with this Tray of Togetherness.
(Tray of Togetherness and “leisee” on top)Then, it comes to the most exciting part! Food, eat! It is an important tradition that family members need to gather together and spend the evening preparing Chinese dumplings on New Year's Eve! We would hide a coin in one of the dumplings, and whoever eats the the dumpling with the coin will supposedly have good luck in the coming year.(So be careful not to swallow the coin lol). I also had a dumplings party with my friends on New Year's Eve this year in the UK! See everyone’s smiling face. BTW, I prepared all the food!! WOW!!
(Yeah we were making dumpling, and you can see most of us dressed in red which is the color of New Year) Another tradition I like the most about the New Year is receiving packet money “leisee” from the senior family members. It is red packets decorated with gold symbols and filled with "lucky money". I love Chinese New Year so much
Do you find traditions of Chinese New Year interesting? Come and visit me in Hong Kong during the period and I will offer you the greatest experience of Chinese culture and an unforgettable festival!! You will also get “leisee” from my parent if you are not yet married