Q&A for How to Celebrate Chinese New Year

Peach blossom was used centuries ago by single women looking for a husband. The beauty of the plant is a reason for why it's considered lucky and women wore the blossom in their hair, as well as growing the plant in their garden, to attract men. The number “four” sounds similar to the word for “death”. This same thing holds true for many forms of spoken Chinese, Sino-Japanese and Sino-Korean. All these Asian cultures share significant historical and cultural ties, particularly with the Chinese language. Hence, this is the reason why numbers and objects which have names that are homophones for words “death” and “suffering” are typically considered unlucky in these cultures.

Red envelopes are given to children and unmarried adults. Married couples also give red envelopes to their parents, the envelopes contain money. The money must be in new bills, and the total amount must be an even number. Certain numbers (such as four) are bad luck, so the total amount should not be one of these unlucky numbers. “Four” is a homonym for “death”, so a red envelope should never contain $4, $40, or $400.

The date for Chinese New Year changes annually because it follows the lunisolar calendar, typically falling between January 21 and February 20. For example, the New Year was on February 10, 2024 (Year of the Dragon), and will be on January 29, 2025 (Year of the Snake). You can consult a reliable lunar calendar or online resource to find the exact date for any specific year.

In China, children spend months making crafts for the New Year celebrations. Dragons play a special role in Chinese mythology and tradition and during the New Year celebrations, lively dragon parades can be seen dancing down the streets to the beat of drums and music. They can make their very own craft Chinese dragons, lanterns and plum marinades.

Check out the wikiHow articles How to Make a Chinese Paper Lantern and How to Make a Chinese Lantern for more details.

The owner or wife of the household usually prepares the food, they too leave that food out for the kitchen god. However, anyone can burn a picture of the kitchen god to send to heaven as smoke.

The Baby New Year is a personification of the start of the New Year, often depicted in editorial cartoons. This figure symbolizes the "birth" of the upcoming year and the "passing" of the previous one, representing a form of rebirth. Its purpose varies across myths, but it typically performs ceremonial duties throughout the year, such as chronicling events or presiding as a symbol.

The most important part is to be with your family, as this is the biggest festival for Chinese people. Preparing the feast, watching fireworks and shows together, sending away red envelopes and best wishes (sometimes in the form of poetry) are all great ways to celebrate.

Chinese dragons traditionally symbolize potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water, rainfall, typhoons, and floods. The dragon is also a symbol of power, strength, and good luck for people who are worthy of it. The Emperor of China usually used the dragon as a symbol of his imperial power and strength.

You will find firecrackers banned in countries such as Canada, China (mainland), Czech Republic, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Norway, Philippines, Singapore, Sweden, Taiwan, United Kingdom, and Vietnam.

Chinese New Year commemorates the turning of the zodiac and lunisolar calendar, similar to New Year's Day of the Gregorian calendar. Many myths and traditions unfold on Chinese New Year. It also symbolizes the rebirth and erasure of a person's past performances and allows them to start fresh. Prayers and blessings are often said to others.

You will usually see dragons, as in China. A depiction of the dragon (traditional:龍; simplified:龙) can be found in artifacts from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, with examples dating back to the 16th century BC. Archaeologist Zhōu Chong-Fa believes that the Chinese word for dragon is an onomatopoeia of the sound of thunder. The Chinese name for dragon is pronounced lóng in Mandarin Chinese or lùhng in Cantonese.

You do not have to pray to an ancestor it is just something you can do if you want.

There isn't a specific person who made it so, but there are several reasons why. Red is the color of the sun, fire and blood, and Chinese people have been celebrating these elements for centuries. The color of red is also easy to extract from plants and minerals. Red used to be the exclusive color for Chinese emperors and royal families as well, until it was later changed to yellow. Nowadays, red represents freedom, revolution (in a good way), strength and communism. These are all factors that make red special for Chinese people.

Yes, of course you can! In fact, many Asian countries celebrate lunar New Year, not just China or Taiwan.

No, not at all! Chinese New Year is usually a family gathering (including friends, possibly), so no one will really mind your choice of clothing too much, but wearing traditional clothes would be a decent option.

Actually, China doesn't actually use the lunar calendar, specifically. Like the rest of the world, most people use the Gregorian calendar, but the date for Chinese New Year is based on the Lunar calendar.

Instruments such as gongs, cymbals and drums are played to keep bad luck away. Other traditional Chinese instruments are also used, such as the erhu, pipa and gushing.