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CHINESE NEW YEAR
The Chinese Year of the Ox begins on January 26, 2009. Chinese New Year is a fifteen day holiday celebrated with lots of food, family reunions and visits with friends. “Gung Hay Fat Choy” means “Congratulations” in Chinese, and is a traditional greeting of best wishes for a prosperous and good new
Chinese New Year marks the end of winter and the beginning of spring. It is a time for family reunions, for honoring ancestors and for thanking the gods for their blessings.
Families make great preparations for this special celebration. Before the new year, families settle debts and buy new clothes. The house is cleaned and food is prepared. Homes are filled with flowers and fruit. Oranges, tangerines, and pomeloes are picked and displayed . The colors symbolize good luck and joy.
Blossoms symbolize longevity and courage. Some Chinese believe that if flowers blossom on New Year’s Day good fortune will be theirs for the next year. Candy trays of candied melon, coconut, lotus seed and watermelon seed are offered. They signify growth, good health, abundance and togetherness.
Scrolls or couplets are hung on walls or doorways to carry messages of good health, luck, long life, prosperity, and happiness. A popular one reads, “May everything be according to your wishes.”
Children behave impeccably because they are warned that what happens the first day of the year may decide events for the coming year. Everyone takes care to say and do the right things and think good thoughts.
On the seventh day of the New Year everyone adds a year to their age no matter when they were born. In traditional China individual birthdays were not considered as important as this New Year’s date..
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