Chinese New Year Traditions

Chinese New Year traditions abound throughout this holiday. It is celebrated each spring. There are a lot of traditions surrounding this holiday.

House cleaning is done in the hopes of sweeping away ill-fortune and making room for good luck. Doors and windowpanes are painted red and decorated to represent happiness, wealth, longevity, good marriage and more children. New wallpaper is hung with these themes in mind as well.

New clothing is purchased and old clothes that are rarely worn are donated to charity. No black is worn during this time but there is a lot of red worn. Girls will often get new dresses to wear.

Food plays a significant role with the Chinese New Year's Eve meal being the most important one eaten during the year. Oftentimes this is celebrated at a restaurant today and will require a reservation several months in advance. Other families will hire a professional chef to do the cooking within their home.

Gift exchanges include red envelopes. On the morning after Chinese New Year eve parents give their children cash presents wrapped in red paper packages. Families will then visit their relatives and neighbors. In doing so old grudges are forgiven.

Welcoming gods of wealth and prosperity (Jie Cai Ceng) occurs of the fifth day of the festival. Herein it is believed that the gods of prosperity come from heaven to earth.

Fireworks are set off throughout this celebration. This is especially true at midnight of New Year's Eve and then again on Jie Cai Ceng. On both nights the entire sky will be completely lit up by the fireworks.

The Festival of Lanterns (Yuan Xiao Jie) is 15 days after the Chinese New Year begins, thus bringing it to an end. On this day a lot of different types of lanterns are lit on the streets and poems and riddles are written for entertainment. Paper lanterns on wheels are made in the shape of the year's animal (i.e. rabbit, pig, rat). They are then taken on parade through the streets.