The traditions and rituals of Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival, are centuries old and remain strong among those who celebrate this festive holiday. This year, the fifteen-day celebration will kick off on Sunday evening, January 22, with the traditional New Year’s Eve feast.
For Chinese families, however, preparations begin well before the New Year dawns. To sweep away any residual bad luck from the previous year, families must clean their house thoroughly. Come New Year’s Day, your home had better be in order because if you dare to vacuum or tidy up now, you risk sweeping away your good luck and prosperity for 2012.
Chinese will decorate their homes and businesses using red and gold – colors representing luck and prosperity – and hang banners (called couplets) and paper cuts reflecting themes such as happiness, wealth, and longevity. They will buy plum or other blossoms, which are a sign of new beginnings. Many people seek a fresh start by purchasing new clothes, getting haircuts, and paying old debts.
For the New Year’s feast, each dish is carefully selected to ensure good tidings for the upcoming year. For example, dinner may include lettuce, which represents prosperity; fish, which is associated with surplus; and pork, which is thought to bring wealth.
Firecrackers and lion dances scare away evil spirits during the New Year season, and pictures of door guardians, hung on either side of the entry, ensure your house and business remain safe once they have departed. Lion dances are also believed to bring good fortune.
On New Year’s Day, families prepare traditional treats such as lotus seeds, representing fertility, watermelon seeds, dyed red for good luck, and candied melon, a symbol of robust health, to entertain friends and relatives. Adults present children and unmarried family members with little red packets filled with money.
The celebration ends on the fifteenth day of the New Year with a colorful display of lanterns. Again, the light frightens evil spirits. You may also see a dragon dance, which is a sign of good luck and the beginning of spring.