Where to Buy Chinese New Year's Cards Online

Sending out greeting cards to family and friends is a great way to celebrate the Chinese New Year. Ring in 2009, the Year of the Ox, by sending out your own personalized Chinese New Year cards to those you love in order to wish them peace and prosperity.

If you are looking for Chinese New Year greeting cards of your own, here are several retailers as well as websites that sell several different varieties. Many of them allow you to personalize the cards by adding photos or your own special message.

Silk Greeting Cards

Traditional silk Chinese New Year greeting cards are available from ChineseMall.com but are sold individually. The slightly higher cost of having to buy each card comes with the advantage of being able to choose a personalized selection for each person that you are sending them out to. The beautiful silk cards are covered with traditional Chinese greeting wishing a happy and prosperous new year as well as different Chinese symbols for good luck and protection. ($2 each, www.ChineseMall.com)

Chinese Brushwork Year of the Ox Cards

Artist Charles Chu has created Chinese New greeting cards for each of the twelve signs of the Chinese Zodiac. If you admire Chinese landscape paintings or any Chinese artistry, these greeting cards are sure to be a favorite with their light stoke brushwork that is used to create the image that each print is made from. An inscription in Chinese calligraphy is on the inside of each greeting card followed by the English translation. ( $2.50 each or $18 for 10, $40 for 25, www.littlefrog.com)

Chinese New Year Photo Cards

Hallmark has several traditional, modern and children styles of Chinese New Year cards available to give this year. There are also three different styles that allow you to personalize your message with a photo of our family on the front of the greeting card. Hallmark's Chinese greeting cards are the standard 5x7 folded greetings on heavy cardstock. The photo personalization can be done in three different sizes, 5x7, 3x5 or wallet sizes. ($3.50 each, www.hallmark.com)

Chinese New Year Card Printouts

American Greetings has five different Chinese New Year greeting cards that can be personalized and then printed out at home. For a membership that you can try out on for a month long trial basis before ordering. The custom card maker lets you choose the Chinese New Year greeting and illustration that you want to show up on the front of your card. You have several options available to you as far as adding photos to your card, the color of the inscription, font and the message. www.americangreetings.com

Chinese Calligraphy Greeting Cards

Chinese calligraphy is used to portray a lot more than the one word that each character represents. During the Chinese New Year Chinese characters are frequently used in New Year's greeting cards to send wishes of wealth, health, and happiness. From Green Dragon Arts you can get any Chinese character you wish printed onto traditional hanshi paper. ($6, www.greendragonarts.com)