Celebrating Chinese New Year 2014

The Chinese New Year is rich with myths and traditions that has been passed through the years.

Here are some of the practices that you can follow during the 15 days celebration (Chinese New year begins on the first day of the Lunar Calendar):

1. Get a haircut
2. Clean the house - Before the New Year arrives, the Chinese consider it very important to give the house a thorough cleaning, sweeping away any bad luck that may have accumulated over the past year. (Don't clean for the first few days of the New Year - if you do any sweeping during this time, you risk sweeping away your good luck.)
3. Offer a Sacrifice to the Kitchen God - Many families have a poster of the Kitchen God in their kitchen. The custom is to offer a ceremonial sacrifice to the Kitchen God, to make sure that he gives a good report on the family's behavior when he returns to heaven. Sticky Cake (Nian Gao) is popular, or children may rub honey on him.
4. Go shopping for the followings:
• Chinese New Year food: dumplings An important tradition on New Year's Eve is for families to gather together and spend the evening preparing Chinese dumplings (Jiaozi). According to Chinese Culture Guide Jun Shan, it is common to hide a coin in one of the dumplings. Whoever gets the dumpling with the coin will supposedly have good luck in the coming year.), Tikoy (sign for unity), White fish (symbolizes wealth), chiken (good luck)
• Clothes
• Gifts - gifts to avoid are clock (symbolizes time is running out), handkerchief (symbolizes a farewell greeting), towel (usually given out at funeral), umbrella (symbolizes end of friendship), sharp objects (sever a relationship), Gifts in set of four (四 (sì, four) sounds like 死 (sǐ, death)), shoes-particularly straw sandals  (ending friendship or break up), anything in black or white.
5. Wear New Clothes - some people still follow the more traditional Chinese clothing called 旗袍 (qipao) but many opt to wear lucky red underwear.
6. Worship Ancestor - go to temple and offer fruits, dates, and candied peanuts. Also, burned stick of incense and stacks of paper money.
7. Give 紅包 (Red Envelope) - married couple gives red envelopes to unmarried adults and kids.
8. Launch Fireworks -  it is believed that more fireworks and noise equals more luck.
9. Eat a big family meal - dumplings (wealth), fish (it must be good to leave extra fish on the plate), Hard Liquor (longevity), chicken (good luck)
10. Candies are thrown away on the street to attract prosperity
11. Prepare pansit (longevity), use incense (to purify the whole house), coins (wealth), rice in a bowl with rolled paper money (wealth prosperity)
12. Prepare a Tray of Togetherness - This is a circular or octagon-shaped tray with eight compartments, each containing symbolic foods such as lotus seeds and lychee nuts, that provides a sweet beginning to the New Year.

Chinese New Year Decorations:

1. Couplets or 春联 (Chun Lian) - usually red in color. However if there is a deceased relatives one must use white paper for the first year, green paper in the second, and yellow in the third.
• Chun Lian for fu and Chun are often hang upside down
• Common characters in Chun Lian
• 富 (fù): Fortune
• 春 (chūn): Spring
• 雙喜 (shuāngxǐ): Double Happiness
2. Kitchen God
3. Wood Block Print - called door gods, which are pasted on the gates at Chinese New Year to protect home.

And always remember to pronounce Kiong Hee Huat Tsai which a proper way to greet than Kung Hei Fat Choi (more commercialized). 恭喜發財!