The most important meal of the year in China is the Spring Festival Dinner, held on Lunar New Year’s Eve, and dishes associated with good luck, such as dumplings, rice cakes, fish, dates, and Mandarin oranges, are served. Eat lucky foodsįood is as central to Lunar New Year celebrations as it is to any holiday. Because fireworks are illegal in many places, celebrants have taken to popping small balloons instead as a way of warding off bad luck. It’s believed that the noise scares away evil spirits. Setting off firecrackers and fireworks is another Lunar New Year ritual. Set off firecrackers and fireworks (and when you can’t do that, pop a balloon)
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People also paste red paper-cuts on windows for the same reason, so get your tiger paper-cuts now. Tradition holds that the couplets will block bad things from coming your way in the new year and ensure that good wishes come true. It’s customary to write good wishes in couplets on red paper and paste them on doors. The color red has long symbolized good luck in Chinese culture.
(See below for more on this.) Red paper couplets and window paper-cuts But it’s important to have all your cleaning done before the stroke of midnight on Lunar New Year’s Eve. Dos: HousecleaningĪ thorough housecleaning before Lunar New Year’s Eve helps ensure that your family gets rid of bad luck from last year and is ready for the good fortune to come.
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Here in the United States, it’s mostly observed on the first day of the New Year, which is named for one of the 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac: 2022 is the Year of the Tiger.Īs people across the globe prepare to celebrate the holiday, we’ve put together some tips on how to avoid bad luck in the year ahead and guarantee that the coming months will be filled with good fortune. The most important holiday in China, it’s also celebrated in Korea, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia. This year’s Lunar New Year begins Tuesday, February 1.
Culminating in the Lantern Festival, traditionally a day for family reunions and marked by events like moon-gazing, lion dances, riddles, and eating rice balls, the date for the holiday changes each year based on the cycles of the moon. All these signs mean that the Lunar New Year is fast approaching.
You may have seen the red lanterns hanging all over Chinatown, worked out a lantern riddle at the GSU, or bought some exquisite handicrafts with animals carved on them.