Travel Tips

Also known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, CNY is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays. It consists of a period of celebrations, starting on New Year's Day, celebrated on the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar and ends on the fifteenth day of the festival.

We celebrated our CNY on 27th January 2006 (western calender) and likewise, the Chinese population across the world.

According to legend, in ancient China, Nian ("Nyan"), a man-eating predatory beast could infiltrate houses silently. The Chinese learned that Nian was sensitive to loud noises and the color red, and so they scared it away with explosions, fireworks and the liberal use of the color red. These customs led to the first New Year celebrations.

A CNY without firecrackers, to me personally, do not bring up the ambience of festivity... However, with the nationwide banned on firecrakers and fireworks, I reckon, the days of "quiet" CNY are just around the corner....

Chinese New Year is also the time when the largest human migration takes place when Chinese all around the world return home on the eve of Chinese New Year to have reunion dinners with their families.

Traditionally, the New Year's Eve dinner is very large includes chicken, fishes etc. Fish especially should not be eaten up completely (and the remaining stored overnight), as the Chinese phrase "every year there is leftover/surpluses") is a homophone for phrases which could mean "be blessed every year" or "have something leftover every year" or phrases to that effect, since "y¨u" is also the pronunciation for "leftover" or more accurately, surplus. A type of black hair-like algae, pronounced "fat choy" in Cantonese, is also featured in many dishes since its name sounds similar to "prosperity".

However, with the passing of times, most chinese around the world make do with a simpler and more convenient meal, the STEAMBOAT!! Where all the yummy ingredients with great meanings can simply be dumped in and served/enjoyed by all..

On the eve of CNY, most Chinese of the Taoist denomination will refer to the chinese almanac to determine an auspicious time to usher in the new year.

As the clock strucks the allocated time, firecrackers and joss sticks will be lit... Joss sticks as a prayer to the gods for blessing and prosperity for the new coming year, and firecrackers to scare away evil spirits...

Red clothing is worn throughout the Chinese New Year, as red will scare away evil spirits and bad fortune.

Uhm.. in this case, Xuan's wearing a vietnamese costume instead of the typical traditional chinese costume...

Some families will invite a Lion dance troupe to their home as a symbolic ritual to usher in the Lunar New Year as well as to force-evict bad spirits out of the premises. Chinese red firecrackers will also be on display where the deafening explosions of each firecracker is believed to scare evil spirits away.