This year, Chinese ushered in the Year of the Ox on Jan. 26, according to the lunar calendar. The holiday is traditionally a 15-day celebration filled with a whirlwind of special events. I planned a tea to celebrate the Year of the Ox and did some research on what to serve and know about Chinese New Year. These are some of the things I found out from many areas of the internet. What a wonderful celebration of family and life.
To the Chinese, food signifies blessings of good fortune, especially during the Chinese New Year. Some of the foods include:
Bamboo shoots - is a term which sounds like "wishing that everything would be well"
Other foods include a whole fish, to represent togetherness and abundance, and a chicken for prosperity. The chicken must be presented with a head, tail and feet to symbolize completeness.
Noodles should be uncut, as they represent long life.
Eat oranges and tangerines or decorate your home with them—these symbolize good luck and wealth.
A must-have during the festival each year is pineapple tarts. They consist of homemade pineapple jam encased in a golden, buttery shell. The color of the little bites represents wealth and money.
Color is an important part of the Chinese New Year
Decorate your home with traditional Chinese decorations with liberal use of red and gold to symbolize wealth and good luck In Chinese culture, red is a popular color to wear and use around the new year. Not only does it attract good luck, it symbolizes happiness.
Chinese New Year is all about rebirth and new opportunity, and one of the most exciting ways to embrace this is with the Red Envelope – a tradition dating all the way back to the Qing Dynasty. On New Years day, everyone receives leisee - red packets decorated with gold symbols and filled with “lucky money”.
Days before the new year
On the days before the New Year celebration, Chinese families give their home a thorough cleaning. It is believed the cleaning sweeps away bad luck and makes their homes ready for good luck to arrive. All brooms and dust pans are put away on New Year's Eve so that good luck cannot be swept away. Some people give their homes, doors and windowpanes a new coat of red paint. DO NOT clean your home during the first few days of the New Year. You do not want to risk sweeping away the good luck of the New Year.
Don’t cry on that day or raise your voice to your children or you’ll be setting a tone of discord for the coming year.
When your guests arrive, encourage them to take off their shoes and walk softly into your home as it invites a smooth transition into the New Year.
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