Chinese New Year, also referred to as Lunar New Year, is the most important holiday on the Chinese calendar. The holiday is a two-week festival filled with reunions among family and friends, an abundance of delicious food and wishes for a new year filled with prosperity, joy and good fortune.
Reuniting with everyone you love
Hands down, the most traditional and cherished aspect of the New Year is reuniting with family. Gathering all of the generations together to celebrate the holiday is so important that many Chinese people return to their native villages for the celebration, even if it means flying in from across the world.
Those who cannot make the trip often get together with neighbors and attend local festivities in their area.
Those who cannot make the trip often get together with neighbors and attend local festivities in their area.
Paying respects to elders and ancestors
At its heart, Lunar New Year is a family reunion. Paying respects to elders can take many forms, from bowing to parents and grandparents to making sure they get the first piece of roast duck at dinner.
For many people, it might be the one time of year where they visit a temple to pay respects to ancestors by lighting incense sticks and making offerings, and praying to deities. It is all part of ensuring a good start to the year for everyone, and putting the old year aside for a new beginning.
For many people, it might be the one time of year where they visit a temple to pay respects to ancestors by lighting incense sticks and making offerings, and praying to deities. It is all part of ensuring a good start to the year for everyone, and putting the old year aside for a new beginning.
Having some childish fun
Before they can sit down to eat, families gather together and spend the evening making Chinese dumplings. One of the common Chinese New Year traditions involves concealing a coin in one of the dumplings and distributing them among family members. Whoever discovers the coin in his or her dumpling will supposedly have good luck for the New Year.
In addition, older family members present children with red money packets (red represents luck in the Chinese culture), decorated with gold designs and filled with "lucky money."
Eating and being merry
What holiday is complete without a proper feast (or feasts)? The Chinese New Year is full of delicious meals, none more significant than the highly anticipated New Year's Eve dinner, which honors family ancestors.
Uncles, aunts, cousins, grandparents, grandchildren, great grandchildren and more attend these savory events, where delicious dishes of nian gao cake, steamed rice pudding, long noodles, and dumplings are commonly served. It is a little-known fact that when fish is included, the Chinese make a particular point not to finish it for superstitious reasons.
Read more: Foods to celebrate Lunar New Year in China
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