Chinese New Year is the biggest celebration in China and in countries like Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore, Thailand, the Philippines and Vietnam. Around twenty five percent of the population, or over 2 billion people celebrate it worldwide. Here are seven fun facts about Chineses New Year that you probably didn’t know about.
Fun Fact One: Chinese New Year is also called the Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival and there is no set date for it.
Chinese people call their New Year the Spring Festival because it marks the beginning of spring. Even though it falls either in January or February, which are still winter months, the coldest time is already behind them. The sun begins its gradual ascent and the days become warmer and longer. Also, many farmers start planting crops at that time.
Many people also refer to the Chinese New Year as the Lunar New Year, because it follows the lunar calendar. Many Chinese rulers discussed the beginning of the Chinese New Year, and for years, the dates went back and forth. At the end of the 20th century the Chinese leaders finally decided that it should follow the traditional Chinese lunar calendar. This way, the festival would start with the first new moon of the year and end will the full moon, which is 15 days (about 2 weeks). What follows, The Spring Festival can start anywhere between January 21 and February 21.
Fun Fact Two: Every year has a zodiac animal.
There are 12 Chinese zodiac signs and each sign rules for a year. Similarly to the Western zodiac, your Chinese zodiac sign can determine your health, career and fate. In order, the Chinese zodiac animals are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Pig. It is believed that people’s benming year ( the year of their zodiac sign) is unlucky for them.
This year is the year of the Dragon. Beware Dragon people! Protect yourself with the colour red this year. You can decorate your home in red to ensure safety and good luck. You can also wear red clothes. Many people wear red underwear every day of the year. Others put on red shirts, pants, jewellery, or insoles.
Fun Fact Three: It was traditionally a day to pray to Gods and fight off monsters.
Originally, people prayed to Gods for good planting season and harvest. They also talked to their ancestors who were also treated as Gods. According to myths, people also hid away from a monster called Nian. He would come on New Year’s Eve every year. He terrorized the Chinese people until one year, a brave boy chased him away with firecrackers. Since then, Chinese people have always used the firecrackers to banish monsters and bad luck. As a matter of fact, the Chinese set off the biggest amount of fireworks in the world on that night.
They also burn fake, paper money and gold bars to honour their ancestors, and ensure their good fortune in the afterlife.
Fun Fact Four: Chinese people clean their houses before the Lunar New Year, but do not shower on New Year’s Day.
People clean their houses thoroughly to get rid of old year’s bad luck, but do not shower on New Year’s Day. They also do not sweep, clean or take out trash, especially during the first three days, because they do not want to sweep or wash away any good luck that comes their way. Similarly, many people do not wash or cut their hair, as the Chinese character for “hair” is the same as first character for “prosper.” Washing or cutting your hair means throwing your prosperity away.
Other no-nos are using scissors, knives and other sharp things, fighting and swearing, saying unlucky words such as ‘death,’ or ‘sickness’ and breaking things.
Fun Fact Five: People give each other red envelopes.
It’s a tradition to give the children, friends and family bright red envelopes, or red packets (or pockets), filled with money. This money is supposed to help transfer fortune from the elders to the kids. The envelopes symbolize good wishes and luck for the year ahead. You can never give an amount of four, because the Chinese pronunciation of ‘four’ sounds like the word ‘death’.
Fun Fact Six: You eat special foods on Chinese New Year.
The Chinese people eat special foods on New Year’s. The foods often have symbolic meanings.
It used to be a tradition to eat dumplings on the New Year’s Eve and every day after that, but nowadays, not many people do that, because it is just too many dumplings. Also, in many parts of China, the dumplings are replaced with other foods. For example, in the south, people prefer to eat spring rolls (egg rolls) and balls of glutinous rice in soup called tangyuan. The tangyuan literally means ‘soup balls,’ but it sounds like tuanyuan, which means reunion. The New Year is a family reunion.
Another food, Nian gao, is a type of rice cake. It symbolizes success. Fa gao is a combination of sponge cake and muffins. People dye it festive colors. The fa is the same as in fa cai, which means ‘to get rich.’ Who wouldn’t like to get rich?
Fun Fact Seven: Chinese New Year ends with Lantern Festival.
The first full moon of the (lunar) year is the Lantern Festival. Though family is still a priority on that day, it’s mostly a night of partying and freedom. In the past, girls weren’t allowed to walk around outside by themselves. But on this night, they could stroll around, moon-gaze and look at the beautiful lanterns. The Lantern Festival is sometimes called Valentine’s Day in China.
Happy Chinese Dragon Year!
