Chinese New Year Traditions (part 3): The New Year's Eve

Summary

• One of Chinese New Year traditions, there will be a family reunion dinner for all 3 generations to gather in New Year's Eve.
• Kids will have new clothes to wear and family will eat more meat than normal.
• The two traditional foods that people like to eat are Jiaozi and Niangao.
• Jiaozi is dumpling stuff with meat; dip into soy sauce with vinegar and hot pepper.
• Niangao is a type of sticky rice that people like to eat, for it represents family sticking together. Also, the word Niangao is sound like the phase "Higher achievement every year" in Chinese.
• The firecracker will start during New Year Eve and may continue through the 4th or 5th of New Year.
• In Chinese New Year traditions, the 1st day of New Year is devoted to welcome the gods and ancestors.
• Red packets will be giving out by the elders in the house.
• The common phase to use during New Year is "Gong Xi Fa Cai," meaning "Happy New Year and become wealthy."
• Be careful not to break anything on New Year.
• It is important not to argue on New Year. Yes, this includes scolding children.
• Also, you should not use bad and unlucky word (such as the number "Four") as well.
• You should avoid wearing black or white, because these colors are for funeral.
• While in China, you should never take a bath or wash hair on the 1st. Because, the word to wash hair is sound likes "Xi Fa," which means "losing wealth."
• The dragon and lion dance will perform on the street parade.
• Traditionally, there should be nine dragons dancing together.
• However, commonly you will only see two dancing together because it is too costly to do nine.
• 9 is a lucky number not only in New Year but in Chinese culture as well.
• You should tip when the dragons come near, because they just may do a dance for you.

On New Year Eve (Reunion dinner)...

The night before New Year everyone will gather around as a family. When I say family, it means that all 3 generations of the family will be there eating food and talk to each other.

There will be food lying out on the family altar as sign of respect to the elders. Most the time, family has a tradition of staying up all night, waiting for the New Year to come.

The kids will get dress up in new clothes, which is usually bright red. Family will be able to eat good food and more meat than normal, even if they are poor. In the Chinese New Year customs, there are two common food choices.

First, there is the dumplings call Jiaozi, which are dip into soy sauce with vinegar and hot pepper.

Secondly, a special stick rice cake called Niangao. The reason the family eats Niangao, because it represents the family sticking together throughout the year (sticky rice = sticking with family).

Another fact is the word Niangao, is a homonym with "Higher achievement every year." Niangao have a sweet taste to it, and sometimes family use it to bribe the Kitchen God as well. Good for the God and healthy for you; it is a win-win situation.

The firecracker will start during the midnight of New Year's Eve to welcome New Year, and it will continue through the 4rd or the 5th day of New Year. You may ask, why do the Chinese like to use so many firecrackers on New Year? You guess it, there is a legend.

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1st Day on New Year...

In Chinese New Year customs, the child have stand in front of the elders and wishes them a wonderful year. The most common phase to use is "Gong Xi Fa Cai," which means, "Happy new year and become wealthy."

For the ancestors, food will be on the altar at all time. While eating you should be careful not to break any dishes. The reason is that "breaking" can mean a lot of different thing, such as the first sign of bad luck, you will be "broke" for the whole year, a "break" in your relationship, or you may "break" a leg. I think you get the point.

New Year, everybody wishes good things for each other and should not argue. Because of this reason, children will not get scold during the New Year. If you are a guest, please, do not use explicit language and the word "Four" when speaking. As I mention before, number "Four" is consider a bad luck number. For color, you should not wear black or white on New Year.

Another Chinese tradition is that you should not wash your hair on New Year Day. The word "Xi Fa" for "washing hair" sound likes the word "losing wealth." However, traditionally, it is require for you to take a bath and wash your hair before New Year. "Wash" out the old bring in the new. Also, it is just for personal hygiene (hehe).

To me, the highlight of the first day will the Dragon and Lion dance, which usually perform by martial artists in the town. Beginning of the year, Dragon/Lion dance symbolize scaring away the bad luck and ghost. So, this is not rare to see some houses having their own Dragon/Lion to dance for them.

The true dance will involve nine dragons, but that is too costly. Nowadays, you will probably see a pair of dragons at the most. Furthermore, the number nine considers as the luckiest number in the Chinese culture.

But, if you really want to see the dance, I would recommend the parade. When you are there and want to feel the excitement, you should the tip the Lion; just a couple of dollar will be fine. After receiving the tip, sometimes the Dragon/Lion will dance for you.

Thank you for joining me today. I truly appreciate for your time. From where I am and wherever you are, good night and good luck, everyone.

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