The Chinese New Year, or Lunar New Year, celebrates the beginning of a new year in the traditional Chinese calendar and falls between 21 January and 20 February. The Chinese New Year will start this year on Tuesday 1st of February 2022, which will see in the Year of the Tiger.
If you are hoping to have a baby in the Chinese New Year 2022, you will be pleased to know that babies born in the Year of the Tiger will be competitive, confident and brave.
What are some of the traditions that the Chinese people follow?
It seems that it brings bad luck to sweep the house on the first day of the Lunar Festival of Chinese New Year as you might sweep away your luck. The day preceding the Chinese New Year, red envelopes with money are given to children to keep away the devil. Children are an important part of Chinese superstitions regarding the Chinese New Year, as they have to be happy on the day and not crying, for good luck.
The Chinese people decorate their houses with red for the New Year such as lanterns or pieces of paper. If you are wondering why red, the legend says that there was a beast called Nian that would terrorize villagers on the New Year. This beast was afraid of fire, noise and colour red, and these were the weapons used to defeat it. From that day, the color red was considered to bring good luck and good fortune in the New Year.
What about the food? As in all cultures, food plays an important role when ringing in the new year. The Chinese people usually have dinner in the evening preceding the New Year, called The Reunion dinner, equivalent to the Thanksgiving dinner. The food found on the table at this particular dinner is thought to have different meanings and significance, and here are the most important ones:
- Seeds like sunflower, pumpkin, lotus, melon and other seeds represent fertility and having many children;
- Fish. Chinese people eat a whole fish on their Reunion dinner. The fish is not finished, as the leftovers are thought to bring surplus in the new year;
- Duck. Eating duck is believed to boost fertility;
- Grapes. Grapes are thought to have a strong effect on wealth, abundance, fertility, many descendants, family harmony;
- Melon. Melon represents family unity and good health;
- Dumplings. Eating Jiaozi- Dumplings is believed to bring in wealth, togetherness, heavenly blessing;
- Noodles. Eating long and uncut noodles represent the hopes for living a long life;
- Mandarines and oranges. The roundness of these fruit symbolises coins/good luck/weath.
However you choose to spend the Chinese New Year, if you would like to decorate your house with red or eat seeds, we wish you a healthy, happy and prosperous Chinese New Year!