It is surprising to know that the Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) is celebrated for sixteen days from Chinese New Year’s Eve to the Chinese Lantern Festival. The preparations start half a month before Chinese New Year’s Eve. Many celebration activities are traditional customs. Let’s know about the 5 traditions of Chinese New Year’s Eve.
1. New Year Decorations
People put up New Year Decorations on Chinese New Year’s Eve. Houses are decorated with red lanterns, red spring couplets, paper cuttings, and New Year’s paintings. They have these thoughts underlying decorations to keep evil away and pray for blessing, longevity, health, and peace.
2. Offering Sacrifices
Offering sacrifices to ancestors shows respect and piety towards them. Many worship on Chinese New Year’s Eve, before the reunion dinner, to show that they are letting their ancestors “eat” first. Offerings mostly include meat, wine, joss sticks, and joss paper are placed in front of the shrine.
3. Reunion Dinner
The Lunar New Year’s Eve reunion dinner is a “must-do” dinner with all family members reuniting. Chinese try very hard to make this family event, often traveling long distances. This is the main reason for the huge travel stress throughout China.
Big families including several generations sit at round tables and enjoy the food and time together. Dishes with lucky meanings must be included in the dinner such as fish, dumplings, Nian Gao, and spring rolls. Many Lunar New Year foods are symbolic.
4. ‘Shousui’
‘Shousui’ is the custom of staying Up Late (show-sway/ ‘to keep watch over the year’). In the past, Chinese people used to stay up all night, but now most stay up only until midnight firecrackers and fireworks die down.
5. Trade Red Envelopes
Parents usually give their children red envelopes (Lucky Money) to Kids after the reunion dinner, wishing them health, growth, and good studies in the coming year. Money in red envelopes is believed to bring good luck, as red is China’s lucky color, so it’s called lucky money.
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