8 Fun Facts about the Chinese New Year

In the English-speaking world, New Year’s Day has already come and gone. However, in China, it is still to come. This year, the Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival) falls on February 3^rd. To celebrate, here are 8 fun facts about this holiday (from Wikipedia):

1. The traditional Chinese New Year celebration lasts 15 days.
2. 2011 is the year of the Rabbit. Children born during the Year of the Rabbit are said to be sensitive, brooding and artistic.
3. Everyone goes home for the Chinese New Year celebrations, if they can. The period just before the Chinese New Year, called chunyun, is the busiest travel time of the entire year. All across China and beyond, you’ll find people on their way home to spend this time with their families.
4. The Chinese New Year is seen as the perfect time to do some spring cleaning.  Traditionally, it was believed that cleaning house for the new year’s celebrations swept bad luck away and helped ensure good fortune in the year to come.
5. Traditional foods include fish, which is served at the end of the New Year’s meal and symbolizes abundance, and a sticky fruitcake called Neen Gow or Nian Gow.
6. Red decorations are everywhere, because the color red is considered to be one of the luckiest colors of all.  Older family members use red envelopes to give gifts of cash to their younger relatives.
7. Shou Sui is the practice of staying up until midnight as a family to greet the new year.
8. During the Chinese New Year, people often greet each other by shouting “auspicious phrases” thought to bring luck, like “gōng xǐ fā cái,” which translates to “Congratulations and be prosperous.” Children sometimes use the following variant of this greeting when they are feeling cheeky: “gōng xǐ fā cái, hóng bāo ná lái.” That means “Congratulations and be prosperous, now give me a red envelope!”

If you would like some more information, we just wrote a new article for Chinese New year 2013

Tagged as: China, Chinese New Year, Fun Facts, Year of the Rabbit