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The
origin of the Chinese New Year is itself centuries old - in fact, too
old to actually be traced. It is popularly recognised as the Spring
Festival and celebrations last 15 days.
Preparations tend to begin a
month from the date of the Chinese New Year (similar to a Western
Christmas), when people start buying presents, decoration materials,
food and clothing. A huge clean-up gets underway days before the New
Year, when Chinese houses are cleaned from top to bottom, to sweep
away any traces of bad luck, and doors and window panes are given a
new coat of paint, usually red. The doors and windows are then
decorated with paper cuts and couplets with themes such as happiness,
wealth and longevity printed on them.
The eve of the New Year is
perhaps the most exciting part of the event, as anticipation creeps
in. Here, traditions and rituals are very carefully observed in
everything from food to clothing. Dinner is usually a feast of
seafood and dumplings, signifying different good wishes. Delicacies
include prawns, for liveliness and happiness, dried oysters (or ho
xi), for all things good, raw fish salad or yu sheng to bring good
luck and prosperity, Fai-hai (Angel Hair), an edible hair-like
seaweed to bring prosperity, and dumplings boiled in water (Jiaozi)
signifying a long-lost good wish for a family. It's usual to wear
something red as this colour is meant to ward off evil spirits - but
black and white are out, as these are associated with mourning. After
dinner, the family sit up for the night playing cards, board games or
watching TV programmes dedicated to the occasion. At midnight, the
sky is lit up by fireworks.
On the day itself, an ancient
custom called Hong Bao, meaning Red Packet, takes place. This
involves married couples giving children and unmarried adults money
in red envelopes. Then the family begins to say greetings from door
to door, first to their relatives and then their neighbours. Like the
Western saying "let bygones be bygones," at Chinese New
Year, grudges are very easily cast aside.
The end of the New Year is marked
by the Festival of Lanterns, which is a celebration with singing,
dancing and lantern shows.
Although celebrations of the
Chinese New Year vary, the underlying message is one of peace and
happiness for family members and friends.
NEW YEAR 2008
Chinese New Year is the biggest
festival of the year in Chinese communities. As it is based on the
lunar and solar calendars, the date varies from late January to
mid-February and this year it starts on 7th February.
In 2008 the Chinese New Year
festival and parade in central London, celebrating the start of the
Year of the Rat, will take place on Sunday 10 February.
A colourful parade will start at
11am in the Strand and will go along Charing Cross Road and
Shaftesbury Avenue.
In Trafalgar Square from 12 noon
until 6pm there will be entertainment for all the family. You will be
able to see dazzling dragon and lion dances and the best of
traditional and contemporary Chinese arts, with performers from both
London and China.
There will be fireworks displays
in Leicester Square, plus cultural stalls, food, decorations and lion
dance displays throughout the day in Chinatown.
This annual event is organised by
the London Chinatown Chinese Association. On the Chinese calendar the
new year will be 4706.
Famous
people born in the Year Of The Rat:
Ron Moody, Marlon Brando, Burt
Reynolds,Ursula Andress, Englebert Humperdinck
Recent Rat birth years
1924
1936
1948
1960
1972
1984
1996
Rats are said to be imaginative,
charming and very generous to those they love - although they do have
a tendency to be quick-tempered and over-critical. They are supposed
to make good writers, critics and publicists.
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