Chinese New Year

Preparing for Chinese New Year

People usually…

•Paint their doors and windows red since red is considered as the lucky color

•Hang paper cuts of old Chinese art from the hang dynasty throughout the house

•2 weeks are set aside for the official celebration of Chinese new year

Entertainment

Popular Entertainments are:• Balloon twister• Face Painting• magician • Tarot card reader• DJ• Astrologer• Drummers• Dancers

Other Enteratinment?•Lanterns Festivals are held in celebration

of the new year•A dragon dance is also a form of

celebration. Dragons are believed to bring good luck, therefore the dance is the highlight of the Chinese new year celebration

Tradition

•The family gathering in the evening to make Chinese dumplings (jiaozi)

•Do not clean for a few days after the Chinese new year, or you’ll risk the chance of sweeping away your good luck!

•Give the children a money envelope (Leisee), which is a red envelope decorated with gold symbols and money inside to represent lucky money

•Tangerines and oranges are often passed out to children and guest to symbolize wealth and good luck

•Prepare a “tray of togetherness”, which is a circular or octagonal tray that contains an assortment of symbolic foods to provide a sweet beginning to the new year.

•A parade is suppose to occur on New Years eve

Past vs. Present

•Chinese new year was originally celebrated for 15 days. Now people tend top celebrate it for only one day.

China’s culture mixChinese Americans who came the U.S centuries ago merged their culture with the Chinese to create a mixed culture

• They have adjusted the traditional Chinese new year celebration to make it their own.

All around the World

•Chinese New Year is also celebrated in other Asian countries, such like Vietnam and Singapore

•The traditional dragon dance that everyone looks forward to is also a from of celebration all around the world.

A temple worker in Malaysia places lanterns

A vendor prepares for celebrations in Taiwan

A street celebration in Seattle, Washington

Prayers at one of the oldest temples in Indonesia. They come to the temple to offer their prayers to the gods and ancestor spirits with hopes for the coming year.

Rabbit decorations in Chinatown, Singapore

Citations

• Boland, Rory. "Chinese New Year Facts." About.com Hong Kong / Macau Travel. About.com, n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2013

• Parkinson, Rhonda. "Chinese New Year." About.com Chinese Food. About.com, n.d. Web. 07 Feb. 2013.

• Lun, Ah, and Braemar Hill. "Photo Essay: Chinese New Year Around the World." VOA. N.p., 2 Feb. 2011. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.

• "Chinese New Year Party." GigMasters Events. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Feb. 2013.