At my office, all my Chinese friends have left for their native country to celebrate and welcome their traditional New Year 2011.
According to the Chinese Zodiac which revolves in every 12 years, the Chinese New Year is on 3rd February 2011. The Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year because of the fact that it is based on a combination of lunar and solar movements and usually occurs in the month of January or February. This year the Chinese New Year will starts on February 3, 2011 and continues till January 22, 2012.
Each Chinese Year is symbolically represented by an animal. This Chinese Year 2011 is the year of the rabbit.
With the first New Moon day of the New Year, Chinese’s New Years starts which will ends on the full moon days exactly after the 15 day later. This period of 15 days, which are full of fun and frolic is called as the Lantern Festival which is being celebrated with great enthusiasm.
New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day are celebrated in flamboyant way. Chinese believe in maintaining semblance between their present and past.Therfore, it has been ensured that the ancestors should duly remember as they were responsible for laying the foundations for the fortune. On New Year eve all the family members which doesn’t includes married daughters and their families gathered together and take part in religious ceremony. To let the old year go, at midnight people use to open their home’s every windows and doors.
At night, People take part in ceremonial parade carrying lantern in their hands. Such parades are been organized through out the country to welcome New Year. Chinese people generally prefer to wear red clothes and symbolical red masks. Chinese masks are the inescapable traditional aspects of Chinese culture and country people ensure to involve them in their every function. Being one the favorite colour of Chinese, red color used extensively in the preparation of mask. Red colour is used by Chinese so capaciously in their all celebrations that it appears as if every thing would hide under red fabric.
Taoist ‘White Cloud Temple’ at Beijing fraught by the people on the Chinese New Year ’s Day as they come from all around the country. As followed as an old tradition, Chinese tie their New Year wish to a "wishing tree” at the temple with a hope that this will bring prosperity to them.
A famous ancient custom call ‘Hong Bao’ which means Red Packet is interestingly practice on the day of Lantern Day in which married couples offer money to children and unmarried couples, usually in red envelopes. This is probably their way of passing good luck to the next generation.
Though there are many dishes which are favorite to be cooked on the New Year eve’s but the most famous dish which is specifically included in the traditional buffet on New Year eve is “Jai”. It is a combination ginkgo nut, black moss, dried bean curd, bamboo shoots, vermicelli and scallion. Chinese people love to offer traditional dishes to their guests.
Chinese people are very presumptive and they try to avoid doing few things on the New Year Eve like they don’t wash their hair, they avoid greeting people who are in mourning, they don’t drop their chopsticks and they avoid saying number four as number four is Chinese homonym for death.
I don’t know how my friends are celebrating their New Year but where ever they would be; I would like to say them” Gung Hey Fat Choy" which means "Wishing You Prosperity and Wealth".!
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