Chinese New Year Traditions

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Chinese New Year Traditions

• Different part of China has very different
  traditions. The following are the most typical
  traditions.
• New Years Eve Dinner
• The New Years Eve dinner is the most important
  dinner for Chinese. Normally this is the family
  reunion dinner, especially for those with family
  member away from home. In the New Years Eve
  dinner, normally fish will be served. Dumplings
  are the most important dish in northern china.
  These two dishes mean prosperous. Other dishes
  are depending on personal preference. The
  majority of Chinese will have New Years Eve
  dinner at home instead of restaurant.
• New Year Markets
• At the New Years days, a temporarily market will
  be setup mainly selling New Year goods, such as
  chinese clothing, fireworks, decoration, foods,
  small arts, etc. The market is usually decorated
  with a large amount of lanterns.
• Fireworks
• Fireworks are used to drive away the evil in
  China. Right after the 1200PM of the New Years
  Eve, fireworks will be launched to celebrate the
  coming of the New Year as well as driven away the
  evil. It is believed that the person who launched
  the first Fireworks in the New Year will get good
  luck.
• Shou Sui
• Shou Sui means after the New Years Eve dinner,
  family member will normally stay awake during the
  night. Some people just stay until the mid night,
  after the fireworks. According to tales and
  legends, there was a mythical beast called the
  Year. At the night of New Years Eve, the
  Year will come out to harm people, animals, and
  proprieties. Later people found that the Year
  is afraid of red color, fire, and loud sound.
  Therefore, at the New Years Eve night, people
  will launch fireworks, put on some fires, and
  stay awakes the whole night to fend of the
  Year.
• Red Packets
• Red packet is a red envelope with money in it,
  range from one to a few thousand Chinese Yuan.
  Usually the red racket is given by adults,
  especially married couple, and elderly to young
  children in the New Year days. It was believed
  that the money in the red packet will suppress
  the evil from the children, keep the children
  healthy, and long living.
• Small Year
• Small year is the 23th or 24th of the last month
  of the year. It is said that this is the day the
  food god will leave the family to go to the
  heaven to report the activity of family to the
  Emperor of the heaven. People will have some
  religious ceremony to farewell the food god,
  including take down and burn the paint of the
  food god. After the New Years Day, people will
  buy a new paint of the food god and post it at
  the kitchen.
• Cleaning
• A few days before the Chinese New Year, people
  will do a complete cleaning of the house and
  house ware means get rid of the old and welcome
  the new. In old days when bath is not often,
  people will normally take a throughout bath to
  welcome the New Year.
• Decoration
• After the cleaning, people will decorate the
  house to welcome the New Year. Most of the
  decorations are red in color. The most popular
  New Year home decorations are upside down fu, dui
  lian, lantern, year paint, papercutting, door
  god, etc.
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