Here is a handy resource for everything you'll need to celebrate China's biggest traditional holiday.
First, A Few Facts…
When is Chinese New Year? Chinese New Year day falls on the first day of the first month of the year according to the Chinese lunisolar calendar. This is just the beginning of a 15 day celebration known as the Spring festival, marking the arrival of spring and the end of winter. In 2012, Chinese New Year falls on January 23rd. It is the year of the Water Dragon.
Legend Behind Chinese New Year
Like all traditional Chinese festivals, there is a legend behind the origins of Chinese New Year. This one involves a creature called a Nian - a ferocious beast with a huge mouth, capable of swallowing several people in a single bite. The Nian wreaked havoc in villages, destroying crops and hunting down villagers. According to different versions of the legend, relief from the Nian came only when an old man tricked the beast into disappearing, scared him off with loud noises, or threw a piece of sticky cake into his mouth.
Learn more about the origins of Chinese New Year
How to Prepare For and Celebrate Chinese New Year
Top 10 Chinese New Year Superstitions - What to do and what to avoid, from Rory Boland, Guide to Hong Kong.
Food
Symbolic Chinese New Year Food Food plays a major role in Chinese New Year celebrations. Learn more about the
"lucky" foods people enjoy during the Spring Festival. Then, try some
Symbolic Chinese New Year Recipes.
Food Traditions on Specific Days of the New Year
7 Days Before Chinese New Year
Many Chinese homes have an image of the Chinese Kitchen God in their kitchen. One week before Chinese New Year, the Kitchen God is fed something sweet before being burned and replaced with a new paper image. Learn the reason behind the charming custom of Serving Sticky Cake to the Chinese Kitchen God, then try a recipe for Sticky Cake.
New Year's Eve
This is a time for families to come together and feast on symbolic foods such as whole chicken, duck, a whole fish (symbolizing abundance and family unity), long noodles, and of course, Nian Gao. In northern China, families make Chinese dumplings (Jiaozi), to be eaten at midnight.
Recipes:
Jiaozi
Steamed Whole Fish
Peking Duck
Lobster Cantonese
Nian Gao
Day 7 - Everyone's Birthday
This day is celebrated as everyman's birthday. A custom is to eat Yu Sheng (Lo Hei in Cantonese)- a raw fish salad with shredded fresh and preserved vegetables, and symbolic ingredients such as peanuts. This is another lucky dish - Lo hei means roughly "to toss up good fortune", while Yu Sheng is a homophone - it means "raw fish" but pronounced a certain way also means "abundant life". The salad is served on a plate in the middle of the table - it is tradition for diners to stand and use their chopsticks to toss and mix the ingredients - the higher the toss, the greater your luck in the coming year!
Yu Sheng - Learn more about the traditions associated with making and eating Yu Sheng in this feature from the National Library of Singapore.
Day 15 - The Lantern Festival
The Lantern festival marks the end of the Chinese Spring Festival. The traditional food for the Lantern festival is Yuanxiao, sticky rice balls with a sweet or savory filling.
Yuanxiao Recipe
Learn More About the Lantern Festival
Fortune
How Does Chinese Astrology Work? There's more to the Chinese zodiac than figuring out your animal sign. Lisa Lu explains the
origins of the Chinese Zodiac.
Rat, Monkey, or…What is Your Chinese Animal Sign?
Since the Chinese New Year falls on a different date each year, figuring out which Chinese animal sign you were born under isn't quite as easy as determining your astrological sign using western astrology. Our Guide to Astrology has a Chinese Calendar from 1900 onward to help you find your Chinese animal sign.
What does the Year of the Dragon hold in store for you?
2012, the Year of the Water Dragon, promises to be anything but dull. But what are the predictions for your specific animal sign? The Travel Guide to Hong Kong and Macau provides a Guide to Chinese New Year horoscopes.
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