Carolyn Kause

-a story of a terrible mythical monster who preyed on villagers.

The lion-like monster’s name was Nian ( 年 ) which is also the Chinese word for “year."

A wise old man told the villagers to scare off the evil Nian by making loud noises with drums and firecrackers.

They Hang red paper cutouts and scrolls on their doors because for some reason, the Nian is scared of the color red.

There are large celebrations throughout the streets of China.

People are dressed in red, and there are dragon shows.

Yuanbao (Jiaozi). In North China, everyone eats the jiaozi dumplings, Families will make a dough and wrap it around pork and cabbage, and boil the dumplings, then serve them with vinegar and soy sauce.

Sweets. Serving desserts brings a sweet life in the new year.

Tangerines and Oranges. Displaying and eating these fruits is said to bring wealth and luck.

Jai. This vegetarian dish is eaten because its part of the Buddhist culture to cleanse yourself with vegetables.

The New Year's Eve dinner is the most important dinner for Chinese. Normally this is the family reunion dinner, especially for those with family member away from home.

Fireworks are used to drive away the evil in China. Right after the 12:00PM of the New Year's Eve, fireworks will be launched to celebrate the coming of the New Year as well as driven away the evil.

Red packet is a red envelope with money in it, range from one to a few thousand Chinese Yuan. It was believed that the money in the red packet will suppress the evil from the children, keep the children healthy, and long living.

After the cleaning, people will decorate the house to welcome the New Year. Most of the decorations are red in color.

Past

Everybody go to parents' home to have dinner on the night before Chinese New Year.

Everybody go to parents' home to have dinner on the night before Chinese New Year.

Money is put into a red packet called 'lai see' to give to children and not married young people.  Senior members of the family will also give it to the close relatives regardless they are married or not.

Present

Some people still dine home but there is a lot of people eating out too.  Also, it's not limited to the night before the new year.  Some families will have a big meal the previous weekend before new year comes.

There is still quite a lot of flower kiosks but almost no one sells new year related food items.  Most kiosks sell toys and cheap gadgets.

http://www.chinesenewyears.info/chinese-new-year-traditions.php

http://chineseculture.about.com/od/chinesefestivals/tp/Chinese-New-Year-Guide-Prepare-And-Celebrate-Chinese-New-Year.htm

http://www.history.com/topics/chinese-new-year-traditions-and-symbols

http://www.travelchinaguide.com/essential/holidays/spring-festival.htm

http://education2.uvic.ca/Faculty/mroth/438/china/chinese_new_year.html

THE END!!!