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"Rituals and Customs to Celebrate Chinese New Year"
While most Westerners experience ‘Chinese New Year’ by watching parades in Chinatown and having a great meal, its traditions vary from country to country. The holiday is more aptly called ‘Lunar New Year’, as it marks the start of a new lunar cycle, and is one of the most important holidays in Asia.
The colour red brings literal wealth in the form of red lai see packets gifted to children and unmarried adults during the holiday. These red packets are cash gifts that can range from a few dollars to quite hefty amounts, depending on the relationship to the recipient. Employers are also expected to gift red packets to unmarried employees as a sign of gratitude.
Watch a traditional dance or fireworks show
Perhaps not the most hangover-friendly of traditions, LNY wouldn’t be complete without pyrotechnics. In China, New Year’s firecrackers are made from strings of rolled red paper containing gunpowder that, when set off, leave shreds of scarlet paper in their wake.
The belief is that the loud noise of the firecrackers serves to scare Nian, the lion-like monster who legend says rose from the sea for a feast of human flesh on the new year.
Chow down on festive treats
What holiday would be complete without a feast? This is also where celebrations of LNY vary the most. In northern China, people prepare and eat jiaozi (dumplings, 餃子) as part of LNY Eve. The time-consuming nature of their preparation allows for the family to spend time together, while their resemblance to an antiquated currency suggests good fortune for the new year.
For Tsagaan Sar in Mongolia, a tower of pastries is the culinary centrepiece. Long rounded scone-like cookies are arranged to evoke Mount Sumeru – a five-peaked mountain of holy importance to Hindu, Jain and Buddhist cosmology.
Other foods such as mandarin oranges, candied fruits and fish are also commonly eaten, displayed and gifted across cultures that celebrate LNY.
Pray at the temple
The Lunar New Year season is a busy time for temples. Worshippers typically visit the temple on the third day of LNY to light incense and pray to deities for blessings and good luck in the year ahead. Many major temples will also put on festive dragon and lion dances in the courtyard.
In Tibet, people leave these intricately carved butter sculptures as deity offerings. Ranging in size from small placards to massive recreations of temples and gods, their ephemeral nature and labor-intensive construction remind people to bring generosity into the new year.
As with any traditional holiday, observance varies depending on the individual. Many of the most auspicious traditions are symbolically observed, though younger generations tend to eschew their importance. LNY is an excellent time to visit and learn about one of the world’s major cultural traditions, but as with any cultural activity, deference to local custom is key to ensuring everyone is able to enjoy the holiday fully.
Catch up with family and friends
Lunar New Year (LNY) is a time to head home – here’s to hoping you still fit in a twin bed. So get ready to have your cheeks pinched, your plate filled and your life choices questioned.
Like many major holidays, Lunar New Year is best spent with family and friends. The tradition is so crucial that LNY travel is annually heralded as the ‘world’s largest human migration’ – at least until Covid-19. In 2019, three billion trips were made during the holiday season.
Family reunion dinners falling on LNY Eve also include ancestral worship rituals that connect the 3,800-year history of the holiday to the present. To start a new year, connecting with the people in your life is central to LNY
Brighten up with some color
It’s easy to see when the Lunar New Year is around the corner – festive scarlet deçor adorns every street, storefront, and home. Being associated with wealth and good fortune, red decorations are hung to ward off Nian – a lion-like monster that is afraid of the color red, according to LNY mythology.
In parts of China, where the holiday is called Spring Festival, bright floral arrangements and fruit trees also brighten homes and streets – peach and apricot blossoms hold special significance for the celebration of Tết in Vietnam. In Korea, birds join these decorations – decorative cranes symbolize longevity while magpies represent good fortune.
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