Chinese New Year, Spring Festival or Lunar New Year if you prefer to call it so, is the first day of the lunar calendar. It is said that Chinese started to celebrate Chinese New Year from about 2000 BC. Prior to the big day, Chinese clean and decorate the house and traditionally, decorations are highly symbolic with lots of lucky words and the lucky colour, red. They also prepare lots of food and shop for new clothes. Everyone will get a haircut to look new and fresh for the auspicious day. On Chinese New Year Eve, Everyone in the family makes a point to gather for dinner. As soon as the new year arrives, they set off firecrackers to get rid of the old and welcome the new. Some people will continue to play firecrackers occasionally throughout the fifteen day celebrations. Parents, grand parents, relatives, and even close neighbors and friends hand out red packets to the younger generation during Chinese New Year. These red packets are called Ang Pow, literally, meaning, “Red Packets” and they are envelopes containing money. Everyone will also wear new clothes and go out to visit and greet their relatives and friends, “Qong Xi Fa Cai”.There will also be dragon and lion dancing! But do all Chinese celebrate Chinese New Year this way? Do Chinese staying outside China care at all about Chinese New Year? Please tell.
Chinese New Year, Spring Festival or Lunar New Year if you prefer to call it so, is the first day of the lunar calendar. It is said that Chinese started to celebrate Chinese New Year from about 2000 BC. Prior to the big day, Chinese clean and decorate the house and traditionally, decorations are highly symbolic with lots of lucky words and the lucky colour, red. They also prepare lots of food and shop for new clothes. Everyone will get a haircut to look new and fresh for the auspicious day. On Chinese New Year Eve, Everyone in the family makes a point to gather for dinner. As soon as the new year arrives, they set off firecrackers to get rid of the old and welcome the new. Some people will continue to play firecrackers occasionally throughout the fifteen day celebrations. Parents, grand parents, relatives, and even close neighbors and friends hand out red packets to the younger generation during Chinese New Year. These red packets are called Ang Pow, literally, meaning, “Red Packets” and they are envelopes containing money. Everyone will also wear new clothes and go out to visit and greet their relatives and friends, “Qong Xi Fa Cai”.There will also be dragon and lion dancing! But do all Chinese celebrate Chinese New Year this way? Do Chinese staying outside China care at all about Chinese New Year? Please tell.
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