Get facts on the different ancient traditions that the Chinese bring back to life during New Year celebrations.
The Chinese people hold on to their age old traditions with their molar teeth. As a society the people of China take a lot of pride in their culture and tradition and have made all possible efforts to uphold their sacredness by keeping them alive at regular intervals.
During Chinese New Year you will see most of the Chinese traditions being celebrated in a row. In the commencement of the year most of the celebrations and activities that take place has to do with their age old customs. They practice many traditional activities to give a warm welcome to the year which will start. The activities will also show to the world the deep belief Chinese people have on these customs and thus celebrate then with great passion to usher in the New Year.
The celebrations are carried on in large scale during the New Year in China for another reason. The mass media is very competent in reporting all the happenings of this time to the whole world. The western people find these traditions strange with a magical air about them. Their interest heightened they come to China in large number to witness these traditions thus giving a great push to the China’s tourism industry.
The traditional celebrations formally begin a night or two before the actual New Year arrives and go up to the 15th day of the first month of the New Year. This is a great time to have fun and do business in China as people are happy and cheerful and ready to spend their money as well!
The house cleaning ritual is part and parcel of New Year tradition. Chinese homes take a new look and everything becomes shining and clean. All this is intended to drive away the misfortune of the previous year and make the house pure for New Year.
Doors and windows are painted red as per tradition. Red is the color of New Year in China. The traditional faith is that it wards away all sorts of evil spirits and omens and keeps the house safe from any harm.
Then there are the traditional decorations that are put up in the houses such as the paper cuts as well as the couplets that symbolize different positive things like wealth and happiness etc. The New Year home decoration items vary from paintings to scrolls and wallpaper designs.
The New Years Eve holds a special connotation in Chinese culture. This day all the family members come together in one place for supper. A special dish is made for this meal which is known as jiaozi which has dumpling in the boiling water.
Once the whole family is together they eat the dinner and then play a lot of games to keep themselves awake the whole night. In the present times they even watch television which telecasts special program for New Year. They also believe that if they keep the lights burning the whole night their parents will have a long life.
The New Year day is very special for the Chinese as it is starting point of two week long celebrations. They greet each other, give presents, and participate in Kung fu, lantern parade, concerts and several other things for next two weeks. To round off the celebrations on the first full moon night on the fifteenth day the Chinese have a huge firework display along with dragon dance.
The Chinese New Years rat is an intelligent animal that conjures up very different connotations in the eastern mind. If you want to learn more about Chinese new year traditions follow the hyperlinks.
