Top 7 Questions about Chinese New Year
By Charlotte Schell | 10 min. read
Top 7 Questions about Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival, is unquestionably the most important holiday in China. You may ask: what’s Chinese New Year like? What do people do, eat, and wear during Spring Festival? When is it? How long is it?
We are so curious about this mystical festival in this beautiful oriental country, and our questions on the customs and traditions don’t stop just there. But we have to begin somewhere, do we?
With that in mind, we’ve put together a bullet point summary for each of the 7 most commonly asked questions by our audience, and an interesting infographic illustrating these fundamental facts about Chinese New Year.
Click on the image to see the full-sized graphic, and feel free to share it on social media or your websites! You can also follow us on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+ or Twitter where we share interesting information with our followers.
What do Chinese people eat for Chinese New Year? What do they symbolize?
- Fish – a prosperous and happy new year with lots of fortunes
- Dumplings – lucky and wealth
- Spring Rolls – rich and prosperous new year
- New Year Cake (Niangao) – better income or higher status year after year
- Sticky Rice Cake (Ciba)
- Sweet Rice Dumplings (Tangyuan) – a unified family that’s happily together
- Longevity Noodles – a long and healthy life
- Tangerines and Oranges – wealth and satisfaction in life
How do northern Chinese and Southern Chinese choose their New Year’s staple foods differently? Continue to read Staple Foods and Chinese New Year.
How long is Chinese New Year?
- 7 Days – the official holiday in mainland China is 7 days and starts on Chinese New Year’s Day and ends on the 6th day of the 1st month of lunar calendar. Most people go back to work on the 7th day.
- 16 Days – Chinese, however, traditionally consider Lantern Festival to be the last day of Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) which is on the 15th day of the 1st month of lunar calendar. Hence, counting New Year’s Eve, that makes a total of 16 days of traditional holiday.
- 22 or 23 Days – a lot of families in China start their Spring Festival cleaning, shopping, and celebrations as early as the 23rd (Northern China) or the 24th (Southern China) of the 12th month of lunar calendar. This pre-Spring-Festival special day is also called Xiaonian in Mandarin which literally means the mini version of Chinese New Year.
What is the Chinese Zodiac animal for this year?
- 2017 – Rooster
- 2018 – Dog
- 2019 – Pig
- 2020 – Rat
- 2021 – Ox
- 2022 – Tiger
- 2023 – Rabbit
- 2024 – Dragon
- 2025 – Snake
- 2026 – Horse
- 2027 – Goat
- 2028 – Monkey
- 2029 - Rooster
What happens in Chinese New Year?
- Shopping – buy new clothes, gifts, food and snacks (normally done before New Year’s Eve).
- Cleaning – clean the house, prepare for a clean and fresh new start.
- Decorating – just as Christmas decorating we do in western countries, Chinese decorate their homes with red couplets, lanterns, pictures, paper cuttings and more.
- Watching Spring Festival Gala – this is a live program that is featured on New Year’s Eve every year since 1983, which also won the Guinness World Record of “most watched national variety entertainment show in the world” by having 498 million viewers in 2012.
- Visiting Relatives and Friends – traditionally Chinese choose to spend their New Year’s Eve and the first two days with their family. Starting from the 3rd day, most people start visiting relatives and friends.
- Dragon & Lion Dances – a performance only done on special occasions such as Chinese New Year. This has also become a regular event in Chinatowns across the world during the Spring Festival.
- Temple Fairs – enjoyable and entertaining family events hosted at or near temples cross all cities where traditional arts and crafts are sold. There are also plenty of unique street food and live performance being offered at these fairs.
- Fireworks/Firecrackers – Exuberant firework displays last for hours starting from mid-night New Year’s Eve in all major cities, and a myriad of firecrackers are set off every day during the holiday season. Chinese believe this can scare off ghosts and spirits and start a prosperous new year.
What do people wear for Chinese New Year?
The answer to this question is surprisingly simple, and not that much different from our western Christmas and New Year holiday season. Generally speaking, it is up to the individuals to decide what they prefer to wear with these two basic principles in mind: 1. Wear something new 2. Wear something red
Red Envelope? Hong Bao? Lai See?
Hong bao is what mainland Chinese call red envelops that contain money as gifts during Chinese New Year or other very special occasions such as weddings and celebrations of newborn babies. It is also called Lai See in Cantonese, which means “Good Luck.”
Here’s a summary of some traditional rules around red envelopes: Normally red envelopes are given by older generation family members to younger generations. Married couples also give red envelops to senior parents or grandparents as well. Put crisp, new bills inside. Always receive red envelopes with both hands and never open one in front of others or the giver. Always express sincere thanks to the giver, and even refuse to take it as it is too generous at the beginning before accepting it as the giver insists. No coins or the number 4s in red envelops. For example, no 40s, 400s, 4000s.
How to decorate for Chinese New Year?
- Spring Couplets – also known as Chinese New Year Couplets, is a profound and concise two-sentence Chinese poem written in classical Chinese language. The poem is written on two pieces of red paper pasted on the sides of the front door and known as a couplet.
- Red Lanterns – bright red lanterns are an essential element of the holiday decorations
- Chinese Paper Cuttings – one of the most important types of folk art in China that has a history of more than 2000 years. Especially in northern China, beautiful red paper cuttings will be pasted on the walls and windows in homes and businesses everywhere.
- Upside-Down Fu – Chinese call an upside-down Fu a “Fu Dao.” Fu means good luck and blessings, dao means upside-down, which is also a homonym to the word that means “to arrive.” Hence an upside-down Fu on the door symbolized that good luck and blessings have arrived in this home.