Sweet-tasting glutinous rice flour balls called Yuan xiao, is consumed in every household. People go to the streets and view processions of stilt walkers, lions dances, dragon parade and opera performances. A wild variety of lanterns are displayed.
#LUNAR NEW YEAR TRADITIONS FULL#
Fruits, nuts and seeds are popular snacks, conveying "wishes for fertility and long life." Especially in the south part of China, flowers such as lotus, camellia, hand citron and narcissus are used to decorate home.ĭay 15: the Lantern Festival Day (Deng jie) or the Feast of the First Full Moon (Yuanxiao jie). Traditional new year food includes meat dumplings (Jiao zi), fish and sweet steamed glutinous rice pudding (Nian gao). Burn incense and worship deities in temples.ĭays 1-5: Relatives/friends visits. Elders pass out red envelopes (Hong bao) containing "lucky money" (Ya sui qian). People change into new clothes and visit elders. People stay awake to safeguard the year.ĭay 1: New Year's Day. People sweep the house to send off misfortune. Offerings to gods and ancestors are made. Fierce door Gods (Men shen) are pasted on the center panels of doors, auspicious spring scrolls/couplets (Chun lian) on each side of the front door. A paper horse is set on fire as the god's steed to ascend to heaven.ĭay 30: New Year's Eve (Chu xi). Family present offerings, hoping the deity will speak of good things. On the 23rd of the last month of the lunar year, he ascends to heaven and makes a report of the family. The Kitchen God is the agent of the heavenly authority and spends the whole year with the family. Laba gruel is a thick porridge consisting of "various whole grains and/or rice with dried fruits and nuts such as dates, chestnuts, pine seeds, and raisins."ĭay 23: Sending off the Kitchen God. Traditional Spring Festival events include:ĭay 8: Offering of Soup of the Eighth Day (Laba Gruel). The cheerful bright red color is the most popular color for the Spring Festival. People set off firecrackers, wore red clothes, hang red lanterns, and painted their homes red at the end of the year. Finally, the villagers found out the monster would be terrified by the color red and noise. Legend tells that in ancient times, a horrible monster called "nian" (same word for "year") appeared at the end of the year, attacked people and livestock, but the villagers could not defeat it. In the Gregorian calendar, the festival falls somewhere between January 21 and February 19. Let's take a look at how this most important holiday is observed in different countries.Ĭelebration starts from the beginning of the twelfth lunar month through the 15th day of first lunar month, the Lantern Festival. Lunar new year marks the ending of the old and the beginning of the new year. It is on the first day of the first lunar month. But lunar new year is still the most important festival in several Southeast and Northeast Asian countries, especially among those of Chinese descent. The Gregorian calendar is followed and solar new year is an official holiday in Asian countries.