celebrating chinese new year
‘Fu’or Good Luck’
The ‘Fu’ or ‘Good luck!’ The symbol is always conspicuously displayed during the Chinese New Year period. Interestingly, ‘Fu’ has two different meanings, depending on which side you look at it, both together mean ‘Happy New Year!’
A different character than Kung. Fu It shows a woman by an oven or stove cooking something special! It is often shown upside down as it resembles the Chinese character ‘dao’ which means ‘to arrive’ in the sense of ‘good luck on arrival’.
food for thought
Food, as the symbol above indicates, is an important part of the Chinese New Year. This is clearly reflected in many of the Festival’s customs and traditions. The dumplings symbolize fortune (resembling small gold and silver ingots once used as currency) and are eaten with particular enthusiasm. Fish dishes are also popular, as ‘fish’ and ‘plenty/abundance’ sound very similar in Chinese. Delicious sticky rice cakes are also a regular on the New Year’s Agenda.
The pork ribs, Singapore noodles, and special rice are enough to get you going if you’ve never tried Chinese cuisine before.
fireworks and color
Red, the most active color, is the color of Heaven Energy (T’ien Qi) that activates and energizes our body. Red plays a central role in this festival that celebrates the activation of the New Year and is found everywhere during the New Year celebrations. Symbolizing good fortune, gold is also a prominent color found everywhere at this time, often in groups of four gold Chinese characters on bright red paper, conveying appropriate seasonal sentiments.
Fireworks, including firecrackers, are another essential feature of Chinese New Year celebrations. The invention of fireworks long ago in China was supposedly prompted by bamboo, which explodes with a loud bang when burned due to the rapid expansion of the air inside it. Martial arts displays, dance performances (especially the lion dance), and parades are also important aspects of the festival’s celebrations. Hopefully knowing this in advance will encourage more people to enjoy the events to the fullest.
Lunar lights: how the date is determined
Yuan Tan, the Chinese New Year Festival, begins when the second New Moon of the Year appears (the first being the 13th and last 28-day Lunar Month of the departing Year) as the celebrations mark the start of a new Lunar Cycle . Lunar months are actually 29.5 days, so the Chinese insert an extra month periodically (7 every 19 years), thus this predictably mobile holiday has different start and end dates each year.
celebrating chinese new year
The celebrations begin with the first appearance of the Crescent Moon (or whenever, as it is a worldwide festival as long as it is New Year’s Day). These include fireworks, martial arts shows and, of course, the lion and dragon dances, especially in the West, in the “Chinatowns” of major cities. In Sheffield, UK (my home), the crowds take notice of the Sheffield Chinese Lion Dance Team (of which I am a member). In London’s Chinatown, my most esteemed teacher, Grandmaster Yap Leong’s Shaolin Fists lion dance team is always at the forefront of the celebrations.
Chinese New Year is celebrated in places with large Chinese populations and particular historical or cultural ties to China, including: Bhutan, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Mongolia, the Philippines, Nepal, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand, and other places that contain significant Chinese populations . Also, as I heard a distinguished Chinese official comment, during last year’s celebrations ‘it’s something that China is sharing with the world. It is becoming a worldwide celebration!
So join the crowd, wherever you are, if you can, when the Year of the Dragon finally arrives on January 23, 2012. Celebrations in London reach their peak on Saturday and Sunday, January 28 and 29. There’s a colorful street parade along The Strand, Charing Cross, Shaftesbury Avenue and through Chinatown and free first-class performances on Trafalgar Square’s huge open-air stage, including Kung Fu, ethnic dances, music and Chinese artists. guests. Fireworks, craft stalls and street performances in Chinatown, accompanied of course by the Lion Dance, continue into the night. Many visiting groups complete their visit with a Chinese meal at one of the many local restaurants. I see you there!