Today - Chinese New Year. Dont know much about it? Stay there, well bring Wikipedia to you..... Chinese New Year – Source Wikipedia In China, regional customs and traditions concerning the celebration of the Chinese new year vary widely. Often, the evening preceding Chinese New Years Day is an occasion for Chinese families to gather for the annual reunion dinner. It is also traditional for every family to thoroughly cleanse the house, in order to sweep away any ill-fortune and to make way for good incoming luck. Windows and doors will be decorated with red color paper-cuts and couplets with popular themes of good fortune or happiness, wealth, and longevity. Other activities include lighting firecrackers and giving money in red paper envelopes. Red packets almost always contain money, usually varying from a couple of dollars to several hundred. Per custom, the amount of money in the red packets should be of even numbers, as odd numbers are associated with cash given during funerals (帛金: báijīn). The number 8 is considered lucky (for its homophone for wealth), and $8 is commonly found in the red envelopes in the US. The number six (六, liù) is also very lucky as it sounds like smooth (流, liú), in the sense of having a smooth year. Sometimes chocolate coins are found in the red packets. The act of requesting for red packets is normally called (Mandarin): 讨紅包 tǎo-hóngbāo, 要利是. (Cantonese): 逗利是. A married person would not turn down such a request as it would mean that he or she would be out of luck in the new year. Red packets are generally given by established married couples to the younger non-married children of the family. It is custom and polite for children to wish elders a happy new year and a year of happiness, health and good fortune before accepting the red envelope. Red envelopes are then kept under the pillow and slept on for seven days after Chinese New Year before opening because it symbolizes good luck and fortune when you sleep on the red envelopes for seven nights. Gift exchange In addition to red envelopes, which are usually given from elder to younger, small gifts (usually of food or sweets) are also exchanged between friends or relatives (of different households) during Chinese New Year. Gifts are usually brought when visiting friends or relatives at their homes. Common gifts include fruits (typically oranges, and never pears), cakes, biscuits, chocolates, candies, or some other small gifts.[29]
Posted on: Fri, 31 Jan 2014 17:00:00 +0000
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