February 19 begins Chinese New
Year
OPEN DOORS: Feb 2015
The Year of the Sheep (Ram or Goat)
occupies the eighth position in the Chinese zodiac and is said to represent
harmony and calm.
We are pleased to feature an
interesting and informative article by Yan Zhou (Alicia). Thank you, Alicia!
Chinese New Year by Alicia (Yan
Zhou)
For thousands of years, Chinese
people celebrate Chinese New Year by using the lunar calendar. According to
this calendar, the ever of the Spring Festival has different day for each year.
To Chinese people, the Spring Festival is the most important holiday, and
everybody is longing for going home to have family reunion dinner. Moreover
children are eagerly hoping for lucky money.
Same as the American families,
Chinese people will decorate their house in a very traditional way: pasting
Spring Festival couplets, hanging red lanterns, pasting lucky Chinese
characters and buying flowers.
Fifteen days before the eve of the
Spring Festival, most people start to purchase the New Year's goods, such as
candies, chocolate, sweet meats, peanuts, cookies and melon seeds. Every
Chinese family will prepare these in order to share with family members and
friends. When they offer these, they also offer wishes.
In my hometown, many families still
keep the traditional custom - having hot-pot for every reunion dinner. At the
same time, seafood, poultry, meat, vegetable, and alcohol are indispensable.
This is not only a family dinner, but also a feast for good luck. Chinese
people believe that the day is the last day for the year, so every bad luck
will go disappear into midnight; when the clock strikes twelve, it will bring
good luck for everyone. The Chinese word for having a hot-pot at the New Year's
Eve is a word which means surrounding the stove. It is round, and round has the
meaning of satisfactory. It is the hope that everyone wants a perfect life! READ
MORE !
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