Thursday, February 3, 2011

Happy New Year - Xīn nián kuài lè

新年快樂
Xīn nián kuài lè
Happy New Year
Happy Chinese New Year - and welcome to the year of the rabbit. If you are in China or other places celebrating the Chinese New Year, you will experienced that a lot of things are closed for the next five days, due to the big celebration. The Chinese New Year is the biggest tradition in the Chinese culture.

A few basics about the traditions:

Fireworks
Get ready for a lot of fireworks - and it going to be noisy
Fish
Lucky Chinese New Year symbol.
Oranges
Receiving oranges when leaving the host's house is a symbol of that house sharing good luck with its guests.
Red
Symbolises good fortune and joy
Red envelope
Given especially to kids and young people - somewhat equal to Christmas presents, as this envelope contains money


I was lucky to be in China, when we entered the year of the Ox (my Chinese zodiac). I have celebrated Chinese New Year with friends and know a lot of the traditions connected to this special occasion, thus making the Chinese experience much more colorful and interesting.