Happy Chinese New Year! Are you ready for yet another
celebration? These festivities go on for almost a month and red is the magic
colour.
This is the ‘Year of the Pig’ which symbolises wealth.
In China, every year has a zodiac animal, the cycle repeats every 12 years,
making it easy to figure out whether it’s your year or not. Just check your age
in multiples of 12.
For the Chinese, the Spring Festival is the most
important celebration of the entire year, similar to Christmas for us westerners.
It marks the coming of Spring and all the excitement and joy of new beginnings.
Unlike Christmas in this part of the world, Chinese New Year is a movable feast,
predicated by the Lunar rather than the
Gregorian calendar. Technically it’s the longest Chinese holiday, celebrated by
over 20% of the world’s population – how amazing is that!
 |
| Image credit: rd.com |
The most significant element of the holiday is the
family reunion which triggers the largest human migration in the entire world. Millions
of diligent hard working people, young and old, who now live in cities, travel
home to rural areas to get together with their elderly parents.
Apparently, desperate singles often resort to hiring a
fake boy or girlfriend to take home to allay their parents’ concerns -
continuing the family name is one of the most important elements of Chinese
culture, a reason why the Chinese have such a huge population…
Lively music and dance plus copious quantities of
delicious food are important elements of the festivities. There are spectacular
parades in Chinatowns all over the world - traditional lion and unicorn dances,
dragon parades, bell ringing and lots of fun and fireworks. Children receive
gifts of red envelopes stuffed with lucky money.
The feasting and excitement will continue until the
Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the Chinese New Year – the first
new moon of the Lunar year so you’ll see lots of red lanterns in all shapes and
sizes, widely available in Asian shops, if you want to have fun and enter into
the spirit….
A myriad of superstitions are attached to the New Year…People
‘spring clean’ the house on the day before Chinese New Year to sweep away bad
luck and make way for good vibes.
Showering is taboo on New Year’s Day, as is throwing
out rubbish. Hair cutting too is out, so hair salons are closed…
There are celebrations in Dublin, Cork, and Belfast. Cork which has been twinned with Shanghai since 2005, hosted
its first Chinese New Year Festival on February 4th. Many iconic
buildings around the world, including the Mansion House in Dublin and City Hall
in Cork are illuminated in red to mark the beginning of Chinese New Year.
Lots of foods are associated with Chinese New Year, particularly
dumplings. Spring rolls are universally loved, easy to make and when fried
resemble gold bars. Each food is symbolic in some way, long noodles symbolise
longevity…Citrus are also considered to be lucky.
Several festive desserts are also much loved, Tangyuan
a type of rice ball, sounds like reunion in Chinese so they are favourites. As
is Nian Gao, a type of rice cake which symbolises success. Fa gao – is a hybrid
of a muffin and a sponge cake, the name means ‘get rich’ so everyone wants some
of those too. Some of these desserts can be an acquired taste for non-Chinese
but if you get an opportunity, do taste them.
I’ve been to China several times, so I’m even more
excited about Chinese New Year and am planning a little Chinese feast to
celebrate.
Those who are born in the Year of the Pig, may want to
check out the Chinese zodiac. Your lucky numbers are 2, 5 and 8, Lucky colours
are yellow, grey, brown and gold and lucky directions are southeast and
northeast…how about that….
Seek out your local Chinese restaurant, better still
invite a few friends around to enjoy a home cooked Chinese meal, and don’t
forget to wish our Chinese friends ‘In
Nian Kuai le’ – ‘Happy New Year’.
Enjoy and Happy New Year of the - Pig the symbol of
wealth.
