Chinese New Year Traditions: Preparation Time!

Preparations for the New Year begin a couple of weeks before the big day. This is a fun time full of anticipation and joy as we get ready for the thrill and excitement of the celebrations. According to the traditions, this is the time to clean the house, prepare food for the feast and make banners and decorations special for the New Year.

A clean house to welcome the New Year

Before the New Year comes, it is one of the Chinese New Year customs to clean the house from top to bottom to get rid off all the bad luck gathered in the previous year.

And after the New Year comes, you cannot sweep during the first days otherwise all the new luck will sweep away!

So one of your Chinese New Year activities will be to... clean your room! Wouldn't want all that accumulated bad luck for another year would you??!!

Cleaning house also means settling all your unfinished business to start fresh for the new year: Pay off all your debts, resolve all quarrels with friends, catch up with homework!!!

Make some Banners and Decorations

Red banners with New Year messages of good luck decorate the main entrance of your house/room. Red is a very lucky color and symbolizes vitality of life and happiness. You can make your own Chinese New Year decorations with bright red paper and markers or a brush if you prefer. Here are some instructions to make your own New Year Banners including the "Lucky Characters" stroke by stroke.

Preparing the Chinese New Year Banquet

On New Year's Day, the families come together to celebrate and everything must be ready for this important fest.

Food must be prepared ahead of time, as one of the popular Chinese New Year superstitions dictates that all knives must be put away.

Using a knife during the first days of the New Year "cuts off" all the good luck for the coming year.

The New Year's feast takes many days to prepare. These are some of the traditional chinese new year foods served on New Year's day and throughout the festivities:

• meat dumplings for good luck
• tangerines for good fortune
• apples for peace
• sweet rice cakes for more wealth every year
• fish for plenty
• veggies with long noodles for long life
• chicken for wealth
• mustard greens for a green year for farmers
• soup means everything better than last year
• oranges for money and wealth
• shrimp for abundance

Paying respects to the Ancestors

The New Year Celebrations can only begin after paying respect to the ancestors. On New Year's Eve, people will go to the temples and pray for good fortune for the new year. They bring offerings of food and incense to please the spirits of the deceased so that they might bring good luck.

So now that all the preparations are done with, the long-awaited day arrives and the New Year's festivities can begin! Click here to join in the Chinese New Year Celebrations!

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