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Loading ...SPRING FESTIVALS - CHINESE NEW YEAR
Despite the depressing weather at this time of the year, spring is not far away and to help you choose that well-earned break, Travel Advice takes a look at Spring Festivals around the World.
It will soon be time for the ancient festival of the Chinese New Year. Traditional celebrations for the Year of the Rat begin on 7 February 2008 ending with the Festival of Lanterns, 15 days later. Why not join the Chinese in Mainland China, Hong Kong or even the Chinese communities in New York or San Francisco and enjoy the colourful celebrations.
Before the New Year, Chinese families clean their homes to sweep away the bad luck of the previous year but making sure that the brooms and dust pans are put away on the first day so that good luck remains.
Families hold a reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve, eating certain traditional foods to usher in wealth, happiness and good fortune with married couples giving small red packets to the unmarried and the children. These packets containing money signify luck and honorability. Red clothing is commonly worn throughout the celebrations believing it will scare away evil spirits and bad fortune. Some families will invite a traditional Lion Dance Troupe to evict bad spirits from the home. Sadly, the fireworks are now banned due to safety and security issues in many cities. New York did allow firecrackers in 2007.
Each of the 15 days of the Festival requires certain traditional activities. For instance, on the second day, married daughters visit their birth parents. Visiting the graves of deceased family members occurs on the third day and house visits are considered inappropriate. Celebrations end on Day 15 with the Lantern Festival when candles are lit outside houses to guide wayward spirits and families parade through the streets with lanterns.
Opening windows and doors is considered to bring in good luck. Switching on the lights for the night should scare away the ghosts and spirits of misfortune for the New Year. Wearing new slippers, bought before the New Year will step on the people who gossip about you. Bad luck - having a haircut or washing the hair (could destroy luck and prosperity) and avoid talking about death.
As the Chinese say – Gung hei faat choi or Kung hei fat choi. The celebrations in China and Hong Kong provide an exciting background to a fabulous Spring Break in those countries.
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