Happy Chinese New Year! Celebrate with your kids!

Today is the beginning of Chinese New Year – the year of the Dragon! If you are or are not Chinese, it is great to teach your child about different cultures, and it can be fun for you and your family! In 2012, Chinese New Year is celebrated on January 23. In the Chinese calendar, it is the year 4709, and the Year of the Dragon!

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What is Chinese New Year 101? How to celebrate with your kids!

Kung Hei Fat Choy! This means “Happy New Year!” in Chinese. Chinese New Year started yesterday February 3rd, but it goes on for 15 days, so I thought I would provide a little Chinese New Year 101! I am half Chinese and half Irish, but I grew up in a home that was centered around the Chinese culture. I thought I would share a mini Chinese New Year 101 with you and some of the traditions that make me who I am today.

Chinese New Year is the most important of the Chinese holidays, and is a time of feasting with the family, celebration, fireworks, and gift giving. It is a 15-day holiday, beginning on the first day of a new moon and ending with the full moon on the day of the Lantern Festival.

The Chinese calendar is based on the lunar year, so the date of Chinese New Year changes every year. The Chinese calendar follows a 12-year pattern with each year named after an animal. There are various stories that explain this. The simplest is that Buddha (or the Jade Emperor) invited all of the animals to join him for a New Year celebration, but only 12 animals turned up. To reward the animals that did come, Buddha named a year after each of them in the order that they arrived, starting with the Rat, followed by the Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat (or Sheep), Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

Why Firecrackers?
It used to be traditional to set off firecrackers at Chinese New Year, to see off the old year and welcome in the new. Ancient Chinese legends tell of the Nian, a man-eating beast from the mountains, which came out every winter to feast on humans. To scare the Nian away, the people used loud noises such as firecrackers and fireworks, and bright colors, particularly red. These customs led to the first New Year celebrations.

Lucky Money – also pronounced, “li-see”?
At Chinese New Year parents, family and friends give money to children in red envelopes. The red color symbolizes good luck, and the amount of money can be anything from a small coin to a larger amount. Lucky money envelopes are also known as Red Packets or Red Envelopes.

Cleaning the Home and Painting Your Home?
In the run up to Chinese New Year, homes are spring-cleaned thoroughly so that all the bad luck of the previous year is swept away (and on the first day of the new year, brooms and dustpans are put away and never used in case the good luck of the new year is swept away!) Often houses are freshly painted. Traditional Chinese homes sometimes get a new coat of red paint, as red is a particularly lucky color.

What are Chinese Couplets?
Also used to decorate homes are Chinese couplets. These are two tall posters, usually consisting of 4 Chinese characters each (as eight is a lucky number), which are hung on either side of the front door. The couplets express traditional good wishes for the year ahead.

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Happy New Year! (Chinese New Year that is!)

In the multi-cultural environment of le•top we celebrate many holidays – but on February 14^th – when most people were buying valentines – we were buying…FIRECRACKERS!  One of our favorite holidays is celebrating the beginning of the lunar New Year – Chinese New Year.   Our fearless leader (my husband Paul) was born in Hong Kong, and we have a great time every year when we celebrate his favorite childhood holiday. 

The most spectacular (and very loud) part of the celebration is setting off firecrackers in front of our building.  Why?  To rid ourselves of any lurking ‘evil spirits’ and start the new year off with a (literal) BANG!  This year we set off 20,000 firecrackers!  We warn our neighbors – and everyone enjoys the spectacle.  We follow this up with a luncheon here in our office – Chinese food of course!  Yummy!

The cycle of the Chinese Zodiac consists of 12 animal signs and the Year of 2010 is the Year of a Golden Tiger, which began on February 14, 2010 and ends on February 2, 2011.   It is a sign of courage. This fearless and fiery fighter is revered by the ancient Chinese as the sign that wards off the three main disasters of a household: fire, thieves and ghosts.  On New Year’s Day itself, it is beneficial to celebrate, to be happy, to have smiling faces, and to refrain from scowling, quarreling, or criticizing anyone.

Year of the Tiger

The Chinese believe that children have qualities that reflect their birth year, so for new ‘tiger’ babies here is what you can anticipate:

Courageous, active, and self-assured.   Optimistic, passionate and independent.  Rebellious, dynamic, and unpredictable.  Quick tempered but considerate.   Affectionate but careless.  The Tiger is a natural born leader and symbolizes power, passion and daring.

People born in the Year of the Tiger are generally well liked because of their charming personalities.  Tigers are fond of competitions. They simply cannot pass up a challenge.  They may appear cool and are unpredictable, and it would be unwise to underestimate their reactions.  Natural leaders, they have a strong sense of their own dignity.  They are intelligent, alert, and farsighted.  Good strategists and tacticians, they often have a hidden agenda.  As long as they do not risk their luck too often, and keep their restless nature under control, they will enjoy success and happiness.  Generally speaking, people born in the Year of the Tiger are fond of playing, and full of enthusiasm and sentiment. 

Famous Tiger People:  Agatha Christie, Crystal Gayle, Cybil Shepherd, Demi Moore, Hilary Swank, Jodie Foster, Marilyn Monroe, Mary Queen of Scots, Penelope Cruz, Queen Elizabeth II, Rosie O’Donnell, and Tom Cruise.

Gung Hay Fat Choy!  Happy New Year!  Wishing everyone a happy and prosperous year of the Tiger!

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Boom-Booms! To Ward off Evil!

There are many traditions that we follow here at le•top, and Chinese New Year is a big one! Since my husband, Paul is from Hong Kong, as well as having family and spending so much time there, the traditions of the Lunar New Year are very near and dear to us…even if they are loud and cause a ruckus! I will also admit that we love celebrating and having fun at work, too.

Traditional Firecracker Lighting and Big Bang!

One time-honored observance at this festive time of year is the setting off of firecrackers — hundreds and hundreds of them! They’re each rolled up in red paper — red is a very auspicious color — and strung together on a long fused string. The mythology is that because firecrackers are so deafening (you can see we’re covering our ears!), the popping and booming sounds are thought to scare away evil spirits — not to mention, in modern times, to set off car alarms!

Red firecracker paper...like brilliant red leaves of fall!

Kung Hay Fat Choy! Wishing everyone happiness, health and great prosperity!

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