8 Ways to Celebrate Chinese New Year
by: Kah Joon Liow
What are the Chinese New Year activities for celebrating
this most important festival in the Chinese calendar?
Let's start at the beginning...
In China, Chinese New Year is called the Spring Festival.
That?s because the first day of Chinese New Year falls on
the start of spring.
The beginning of spring is a fresh start?
It's the start of a new year of sowing and reaping.
A wish for a good harvest in the year ahead.
(That's how the Chinese character for "year" nian2 年 came
about.)
A cause for celebration!
All around the world, Chinese families...
put up Chinese New Year scrolls on both sides of the door,
set off firecrackers (It's illegal in many Chinese cities
now, but people do it anyway)
and married adults give children red envelopes filled with
?lucky money?.
Chinese New Year activities begin 2-4 weeks before the "big
day".
Here's what you can do to celebrate Chinese New Year.
It's what Chinese families do all over the world.
1. Clean up the house
Select a day and together with the family, clean up the
house.
This ritual gets rid of bad luck in the ending year and
welcomes in good luck in the new year.
2. Send greeting cards
Send greeting cards with new year wishes to friends,
relatives and colleagues.
Remember to post your greeting cards early!
3. Go shopping
Go shopping to buy new clothes for the whole family, food
and sweets, and festive home decorations.
Looking for Chinese New Year activities for kids? Go to
http://www.living-chinese-symbols.com/chinese-new-year-activities.html
4. Get ready some red packets.
You'll need them later.
5. Decorate the house
Hang Chinese New Year scrolls called spring couplets on both
sides of the door to usher in good wishes for the new year.
Paste paper cuts of upside down good fotune "fu" characters,
happy children and tangerine oranges on the wall.
Make sure you have vases of flowers in the house during
Chinese New Year.
They do more than just add a new year atmosphere to the
home.
Living plants symbolize growth and flowers represent wealth
and prosperity.
Pum blossoms can be arranged together with bamboo and pine.
They stand for endurance, nobility and longevity.
Other favorite flowers are pussy willow, azalea, peony and
water lily or narcissus.
6. Prepare the reunion dinner
Gather your family together for this most important and
sumptuous meal of the year on Chinese New Year?s eve.
Prepare a meal with auspicious dishes like chicken, fish,
oysters, dumplings, green vegetables and noodles.
They have meanings of prosperity, longevity and abundance.
I've put together some Chinese New Year recipes and a list
of what different foods symbolize at http://www.living-chinese-symbols.com/chinese-new-year-activities.html
7. Pass the year
After a hearty meal, stay up late to ?pass the year? guo4
nian2 过年, an ancient tradition.
You can watch TV, play card games, or chat.
After midnight (or on the morning of Chinese New Year's
day), give your children the red envelopes filled with money
(called ?lucky money?).
Put the red packets under the pillow of children. This is
said to ward off evil.
8. Send New Year greetings
Call up friends or SMS them on the morning of Chinese New
Year and wish them Happy New Year, Good Health and
Prosperity.
Visit the homes of friends and relatives with two big
tangerines.
Bring red packets to give to the children at the homes
you're visiting.
These are eight ways to have a roaring Chinese New Year
celebration with family and friends!
Eight is the most auspicious number for Chinese people.
It means wealthy and properous.
Here's to your good health and prosperity in the New Year!
About The Author
Kah Joon Liow
Want to discover the culture of Chinese symbols and characters and enhance your life? LIOW Kah Joon is your guide. Read his Chinese New Year Special and sign up for his free Chinese Symbols ezine at http://www.living-chinese-symbols.com.
kahjoon@myarticleannouncer.com
|
Mink Coat Care
Mink Coat Care
by: Daniel Sickafus
We recommend storing your Mink coat with a professional furrier in the Spring of each year.
While it's there, have the furrier condition, clean and glaze it, regardless of how often it was worn.
Keeping your mink coat at home over the Summer will reduce it's life.
Both normal and cedar closets are not suitable for storage unless they are equipped with proper air circulation, constant 50oF and 50% humidity to maintain valuable moisture. Also, the smell from the use of cedar and mothballs will adhere to fur, leathers and wool, creating lasting unpleasant odors.
The smell of both moth and cedar balls often adhere to Mink and other fur and creates unpleasant odors. Proper cleaning and annual conditioning will remove most odors.
While you have your Mink coat at home, allow your garment proper space in your closet. Never keep your valuable Mink coat in a plastic bag. Your fur requires...
Mink Coat Care
Spring break > Mink Coat Care
Getting Your Child's Attention When They're Engrossed In A Video Game
Getting Your Child's Attention When They're Engrossed In A Video Game
by: Nicky Vanvalkenburgh
Have you ever struggled to get your child?s attention? Perhaps you have dinner on the table, and want the kids to come before everything gets cold. Your objective is clear, but your child is engrossed in a video game. Their eyes are focused on the TV screen. Their hand is on the joystick. They?re playing the game, and you?re being ignored. As a result, you feel frustrated, angry and stressed.
What can you do to get your child?s attention?
Try the ?Pause and Eyeball? technique. First, get control of the situation by asking the kids to pause. Tell your child, ?Time out! Stop you?re doing and listen to me.?
Your child may be so engrossed in their computer game that they?re almost in a trance. Their eyes are glazed over, and they may not ever hear you. This causes your instructions to be ignored . To break the trance, clap your hands and...
Getting Your Child's Attention When They're Engrossed In A Video Game
Spring break > Getting Your Child's Attention When They're Engrossed In A Video Game
How Low Interest Credit Cards Work
How Low Interest Credit Cards Work
by: Drew Hanson
Low Interest credit cards are exactly what their name suggests. They charge low rates of interest (APR). The APR is calculated in the same way as with other credit cards; this facilitates an easy comparison for an individual who is planning to switch over to these cards. Low interest credit cards are favored by individuals who habitually carry their monthly credit card balance forward. Low interest rates can...
Spring break
Spring break > How Low Interest Credit Cards Work
Plus Size Bathing Suits For All Figures
Plus Size Bathing Suits For All Figures
by: Chirsty Diaz
The reason so many of us hate shopping for plus size bathing suits is because we often don't know what style is the best for our figure. It's easy to pick the same unflattering style year after year. But, why not take a risk, and explore some new styles in plus size bathing suits? Let's review the most common figure complaints and find the most flattering styles.
Wide Hips, Big Thighs
This is...
Spring break suits Plus Size Bathing Suits For All Figures 8 Ways to Celebrate Chinese New Year
Spring break > Plus Size Bathing Suits For All Figures
5 Insider Beauty Secrets Other Women Don?t Want You To Know! Part 1
5 Insider Beauty Secrets Other Women Don?t Want You To Know! Part 1
by: Beth Scott
Imagine what you would do if you knew miracle working beauty secrets. And if you had the self confidence that comes with being beautiful.
Now before you laugh and say you?ll never be beautiful, listen up.
I know where you?re coming from! At one time I didn?t know any beauty secrets. Before I learned any beauty secrets I was plain, even bordering on ugly.
I had...
Spring break
Spring break > 5 Insider Beauty Secrets Other Women Don?t Want You To Know! Part 1