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Chinese New Year will be on
Feb., 07, 2008 |
Thank you for visiting our website. This Chinese New Year
is
on Feb, 09, 2005, but the celebration is to begin at midnight
on
Feb 06, 2008, after that will be the lion dance performed
in Chinatown every Sunday between 11:00 am to 3:00 pm for a
couple of weeks. Happy Chinese New Year! |
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Chinese
New Year in Philadelphia Chinatown is always a vibrant fusion of traditional culture and modern
sophistication. This
year 2008 - the arrival of the year
of the Rat comes and the
city's amazing celebrations will be bigger, brighter and
extremely exciting.
Every year, February
07, on the stroke of midnight the celebration quickly begins, firecrackers blast and the traditional lion
dance begins, happiness spreads throughout the town. So mark it on your calendar today, and
get ready to say "Kung
Hei Fat Choy." . |
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| Traditions of Chinese New Year
Even though the climax of the Chinese New Year, Nian, lasts
only two or three days including the New Year's Eve, the New
Year season extends from the mid-twelfth month of the previous
year to the middle of the first month of the new year. A month
from the New Year, it is a good time for business. People will
pour out their money to buy presents, decoration material,
food and clothing. Transportation department, railroad in
particular, is nervously waiting for the onslaught of swarms
of travelers who take their days off around the New Year to
rush back home for a family reunion from all parts of the
country.
Days before the New Year, every family is busy giving its
house a thorough cleaning, hoping to sweep away all the
ill-fortune there may have been in the family to make way for
the wishful in-coming good luck. People also give their doors
and window-panes a new paint, usually in red color. They
decorate the doors and windows with paper-cuts and couplets
with the very popular theme of "happiness",
"wealth", "longevity" and
"satisfactory marriage with more children".
Paintings of the same theme are put up in the house on top of
the newly mounted wall paper. In the old days, various kinds
of food are tributed at the alta of ancestors.
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Chinese New Year Colors
You probably have guessed correctly by now : the
favorite colors during Chinese New Year are RED
and GOLD. Red
symbolizes happiness while Gold symbolizes wealth. As
such, these two colors are predominant in most Chinese
New Year decorations and greeting cards.
Tips : Black and white, on the other hand, are
the "unlucky" colors avoided by most Chinese
during the New Year.
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The Eve of the New Year is very carefully observed. Supper
is a feast, with all members coming together. One of the most
popular course is jiaozi, dumplings boiled in water. "Jiaozi"
in Chinese literally mean "sleep together and have
sons", a long-lost good wish for a family. After dinner,
it is time for the whole family to sit up for the night while
having fun playing cards or board games or watching TV
programs dedicated to the occasion. Every light is supposed to
be kept on the whole night. At midnight, the whole sky will be
lit up by fireworks and firecrackers make everywhere seem like
a war zone. People's excitement reach its zenith.
Very early the next morning, children greet their parents
and receive their presents in terms of cash wrapped up in red
paper packages from them. Then, the family start out to say
greetings from door to door, first their relatives and then
their neighbors. It is a great time for reconciliation. Old
grudges are very easily cast away during the greetings. The
air is permeated with warmth and friendliness. During and
several days following the New Year's day, people are visiting
each other, with a great deal of exchange of gifs. The New
Year atmosphere is brought to an anti-climax fifteen days away
where the Festival of Lanterns sets in. It is an occasion of
lantern shows and folk dances everywhere. One typical food is
the Tang Yuan, another kind of dumplings made of sweet rice
rolled into balls and stuffed with either sweet or spicy
fillings.
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| Chinese
New Year Philadelphia Chinatown
is always
a vibrant fusion of traditional culture
and modern sophistication. In the
year 2008 - when the arrival of the
Year of the Rat was part of the
city's amazing
Millennium celebrations - the
party was be bigger, brighter and
extremely exciting.
Every year,
from the amazing Chinese
New Year Parade and one of the ,
the City of Life promises you an
unforgettable experience and a fascinating
opportunity to soak up some traditional
Chinese culture. So make a date today, and
get ready to say "Kung
Hei Fat Choy" .
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 Hongbao |
One
thing that makes Chinese children to look forward to the
arrival of Chinese New Year is Hongbao or Laisi (in Hong
Kong). It's a red little envelope which contains cash
gifts (in even denominations like $8 or $12 for luck).
All unmarried children are eligible to receive Hongbao,
but do make sure that you first greet your elders or
married friends :
GONG
XI FA CAI! 鳩 炰 楷 笙 |
Spring Cleaning & Taboos
Yes, Chinese will do a Spring cleaning a few days
before the New Year to spruce up the home as well as to
get rid off of old stuff. And then, right after the New
Year Eve dinner is over and the home is clean, all
brooms and kitchen knifes will be kept away. During the
first day of the New Year, not only is one not supposed
to utter any unlucky words such as "death" and
"accident", one is also forbidden to touch the
brooms and knifes, for they may sweep in bad luck and
cause misfortune. If one accidentally breaks the dishes,
one must quickly utter "sui sui ping an" or
"tai kat lai si" (in Cantonese).
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Fire Crackers and Lion Dance
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Fire crackers and lion dance are almost
synonymous with Chinese New Year. Fire crackers
were used to chase away the mythical monster,
Nian, which once terrorized the people. But over
time, their loud noises have been used to create
the jovial, holiday mood. If you hear this,
you'll know that Chinese New Year is just around
the corner.
Lion dance is a remarkable piece of
performance art and sports. Normally performed
by 2 people, it takes years of training and
practice before one can be good enough to give a
public performance. It's no surprise that many
lion dancers are also practitioners of Chinese
martial arts, or Kung Fu.
Today, fire crackers and lion dance can also
be found during auspicious events such as grand
opening day of a new business
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