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

Summary

One of Chinese New Year traditions is that there will be a family reunion dinner for all 3 generations to gather on New Year's Eve.
Kids will have new clothes to wear and the 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 and dipped 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 sounds like the phase "Higher achievement every year" in Chinese.
The firecrackers will start during New Year's Eve and may continue through the 4th or 5th day of New Year.
In Chinese New Year traditions, the 1st day of New Year is devoted to welcoming the gods and ancestors.
Red packets will be given 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 words (such as the number "Four") as well.
You should avoid wearing black or white, because these colors are for funerals.
While in China, you should never take a bath or wash hair on the 1st. This is because the word to wash hair sounds likes "Xi Fa," which means "losing wealth."
The dragon and lion dance will be performed in 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 the 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 talking to each other.

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

Photo Benoist Sebire

The kids will be dressed up in new clothes which are usually bright red. The 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 are the dumplings called Jiaozi, which are dipped into soy sauce with vinegar and hot pepper.

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

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

The firecrackers will start around midnight of New Year's Eve to welcome New Year, and 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 guessed it, there is a legend.

So get your cookie ready, I'll wait...no, seriously, I'll wait. (hehe)

Page

<<< Chinese Culture
<<< Indian Culture
<<< Japanese Culture
<<< Vietnamese Culture