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CHINESE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION 2016. NI HAO, KUNG HEI FAT CHOY !! Chinese New Year, also known as Spring Festival in China, is China’s most important traditional festival. It is also the most important celebration for families and a week of official public holiday. Chinese New Year 2016 is on Monday 8 February. Chinese New Year is the Longest Public Holiday in China, most Chinese will be off work 7 days from Sunday February 7 (New Year's Eve) to Saturday, February 13. 2016 is the Monkey Year, according to the Chinese 12-year animal zodiac cycle. Chinese main traditional celebrations of the festival include: eating reunion dinner with family, giving red envelopes, firecrackers, new clothes, decorations, ancestor worship and Dragon, Lion and snake dances. Setting off fireworks is a must for each family, during the Spring Festival season all over China. Chinese New Year is a time for families to be together. Wherever they are, they come home to celebrate the festival with their families. The New Year's Eve dinner is called " "reunion dinner" and is believed to be the most important meal of the year. Big families of several generations sit around round tables and enjoy the food and time together. Every street, building, and house where CNY is celebrated is decorated with red. Red is the main color for the festival, as it is believed to be an auspicious color. Red lanterns hang in streets; red couplets are pasted on doors; banks and official buildings are decorated with red New Year pictures depicting images of prosperity. RED ENVELOPES: The most common gifts are red envelopes. Red envelopes have money in, and are given to and retired seniors. It is not a customs to give red envelopes to (working) adults, except by employers. Red envelopes are used in the hope of giving good luck to the receivers. THE LUCKY NUMBER for the chinese is number 8, which means prosperity, wealth, success, or social status. People select lucky numbers when choosing residences, telephone numbers, business addresses, wedding dates, festivals and other celebratory events. YELLOW, RED and GREEN are considered their Lucky Colors: Yellow symbolized royalty and power of the throne. China was often referred to as Yellow Earth, and its mother river is the Yellow River. The skin color of Chinese people is said to be yellow. Red is the Chinese national color and represents happiness, beauty, success and good fortune. Red is used extensively in everyday life. Red lanterns adorn businesses and residences. Double rows of red "Xi" (happiness) letters are pasted on gates and doors. People wore red during weddings, festivals and other celebratory events. Red envelopes stuffed with money are given as gifts during Chinese New Year. Green symbolizes money. Buildings, banks and restaurants are often painted in green and red. The basic food in China is: In Northern China, for example, wheat is eaten more than rice as a staple food. Food using wheat as its main ingredient, such as noodles and dumplings is prevalent there. China's Southern cuisine uses far more rice, with such staples as rice noodles and zongzi - sticky rice wrapped in leaves. Otherwise, they consume lots of pork, duck, chicken, beef, fresh and salty with a lot of seafood, as well vegetables. As ingredients : Oil, Ginger, garlic, and scallion, dark soy sauce, chili sauce, Chinese mushrooms, fermented black beans and oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, rice vinegar, rice wine, toasted sesame oil and so on. Different menus according to one's choice. Nice cuisine really. I hope the above info as well as the photos below, have given you an insight of the Chinese New Year, the Spring Festival in China. Thank you for your read and views. Kuaile yuedu, zhu nin yukuai, feichang ganzie ni wei ni de yuedu; Chengzhi, Xiexie. Sincerely, Lisa.    , Xi nian kuai le.         |
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What a lovely display of food, wish I could sample some lol. Really sounds like a wonderful celebration and family time. I love the idea of the red envelopes.  Fantastic pictures Lisa
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Puzzles dear, NI HAO, Am so happy for your comments on here dear. Here in my country, we have lots of communities, including chinese, but they are all born here, so we all celebrate the different cultural feasts of each community. Sharing the cakes, fruits and so on, with neighbors, friends and relatives of course. As the Chinese feast will be on the 8th Feb, so I decided to blog on this feast. It is such a spectacular event too. With the dragon dance which is very nice to watch as well. Without forgetting the Red envelope too!!. Thank you for your visit Puzzles, I wish you and all o yours. KUNG HEI FAT CHOY. Lisa. .
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Dear LadyLuck, NI HAO, Thank you greatly for your noticeable visit and your wonderful comments Lady. Am so happy you have appreciated this blog of mine. Thank you also for your lovely compliments. As the Chinese community here in my country will be celebrating the Spring festival on the 8th Feb, I've made a must to post this blog about it. Thank you again Lady. I wish you and all of yours . KUNG HEI FAT CHOY. Lisa.
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My dear friend Maudie, NI HAO, It's always a great pleasure reading from you on my blog, Maudie. Thank you for your wonderful comments. I guessed all you on here would like this blog, which I've dedicated to the Chinese New Year/ Their Spring Festival. We have the community in my country and we all celebrate, the feasts of each culture here. Surely, as each year, they will bring me, their traditional sweets which we all like here and they will have of course a lot of firecrackers on that day. My immediate neighbours here are Chinese families and a lot of my friends here too. Woo hoo!!, so I'll get lots and lots of cakes and sweets. KUNG HEI FAT CHOY, Maudie. Lisa.
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Earthytaurus dear, NI HAO, Great is my joy reading your nice comments above. Oh!, so you are Dragon then. Nice to know ET. Really the Chinese food is very delicious. For this feast, they usually do the most special menu of course. Thank you for your visit ET. I wish you and all of yours: KUNG HEI FAT CHOY. Lisa.
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MrsJoe dear Lady, NI HAO, Thank you MrsJoe, for your visit and your nice comments. Am so happy you have appreciated this blog of mine and the photos as well. The celebration of the Chinese New Year, is so fantastic that I found it necessary to set this blog, at least for the first time. Thank you again MrsJoe, I wish you and MrJoe: KUNG HEI FAT CHOY. Have a pleasant weekend. Lisa.
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Aloha, NI HAO, Ganxie nin dui nÃn de guanglÃn, nÃn de yìjian. Wo hen gaoxìng du ni jiu zai zheli. Thank you for appreciating this blog of mine. You have luckily not missed it. Thank you for approving my words in Mandarin and Cantonese above. I do not speak too fluently these languages but as my country is a multi-cultural and multiracial, we have lots of Chinese living here, so we are bound to inter-change and living in peace and harmony with one another. So, that's how I can understand many languages as such. Monday 8th will be a great day for our Chinese community here. Lots of sharing the cakes and sweets and....... lots of firecrackers as well. Therefore I wish you and all of yours: CHUNG HEI FAT CHOY, Rang ziji kuaile, kuaile shenghuo, Xiexie, Chengzhi, Lisa.
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Oh... Lisa! I was thinking of you when I heard about Chinese New Year. I knew you would post something about this subject.  Very interesting, thanks.The photos are spectacular!  Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.(Khalil Gibran)
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Aloha my dear friend, NI HAO, Thank you for your interest about Chinese in my country. First of all, I better describe in brief the population of my country. We are multiracial, multilingual and multi-faith and we respect each community and we all live in harmony with each other. We have people from the eastern countries, from Europe and from Africa also. With inter-marriages, we have however a mix population. The ancestors of each community came from those continental countries, centuries ago. Their offspring and generation were born here. There cultures have been kept also. So, each community has its own language accordingly. But the official languages here is English and French. The national communication language is Creole which derives from french. As we area democratic country, so freedom of all the above, are respected. We have Christian, Hindu, Muslim, Jewish and Chinese feasts. The date of these main feast are officially a public holiday. During these feast, each related community, shares cakes, sweet and so on to the neighbors, friends and relatives for sure. So, being among such communities, we learn somewhat each language, But the main one is Creole which is spoken daily among the population. The main and biggest feast here is Christmas which all the population celebrate indistinctly. But all the other fests are as well observed according to one's own culture. I hope my response here, has given a good insight of the Mauritian Nation here. Thank you again and: KUNG HEI FAT CHOY. Xiexie. Chengzhi, Lisa.
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Aloha, hi again, Thanks again for your coming back on this blog of mine. Most of the Chinese here, are born here but gradually many of their relatives have come to settle here also. They do mainly commerce or trading but their offspring also got their education here and also studied for higher level abroad. They do hold high posts in Government and Private sectors as well. They have integrated very well here too. We all live peacefully together here. Thanks again Aloha. Hope one day you'll have the chance to visit us here. You'll be the most welcome. Best wishes. Chengzhi. Lisa.
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Lucy, My dear Lady, NI HAO, As usual, it's my great pleasure reading you on my blogs. Thank you for your kind visit and for your lovely comments. I do appreciate them so much, I know they come from your kind heart, Lucy. My feelings are reciprocate too. As it is a very great feast for all the Chinese worldwide and for our Chinese community here in my country, so I couldn't prevent myself to draft and post my above blog, dedicated to all of them. This is my way to to greet them as well. I am so happy that it has pleased you my dear Lucy. Thank you for your appreciation as well. Should I also greet you in Chinese, here it goes: KUNG HEI FAT CHOY, my dear Lucy. Thanks again Lady. Enjoy your day. Lisa.
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My dear friend Aloha, KUNG HEI FAT CHOY. Your wonderful comments on this blog of mine, enchant my heart so much. I really didn't expect such wonderful and hearty comments from you, Aloha. I always do my best to post blogs which hopefully would please my readers and I am surely so happy for their responses which encourage me to continue. I like to blog on diversities and always avoid politics and religion. I enjoy all your delightful above comments Aloha. Hope to read from you again on my future blogs. Enjoy your day with all your family, Aloha. Yuan shangdì baoyou nimen, Feichang ganxie. Chengzhi. Lisa.  
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