The lunar calendar, unlike the Gregorian calendar, uses the phases of the moon to delineate days, weeks and months of the year. A lunar month is the period of time from one new moon to the next In Hong Kong and China, the festival is celebrated over 15 days, during which relatives and friends engage in baai nin (拜年, bai nian in Mandarin). Baai means the respectful clasp of one hand over a fist in front of your chest, and together with nin, meaning year, refers to the activity of visiting a friend or family’s home to exchange gifts and good wishes for the new year. Chinese New Year (also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival) remains the most significant event in the Chinese calendar. The first thing one does during Chinese New Year is to 'bai nian Bai nian (translate: paying respects) is a major activity during Chinese New Year. It means to go around visiting friends and relatives and bringing along some gifts for them. It means to go around visiting friends and relatives and bringing along some gifts for them. The seventh day of the Lunar New Year (February 4, 2025) is said to be when the Chinese mother goddess, Nuwa, created humanity. Thus, it’s called renri/jan jat (the people’s birthday). Lunar New Year rush starts after China lifts COVID travel rules. By Associated Press. Lion dancer makes impact on Chinese Lunar New Year tradition. By Mori Rothman, Michael D. Regan. Happy Lunar To this day, the Lunar New Year celebration is centered around removing bad luck and welcoming all that is good and prosperous. Red is considered an auspicious color to ring in the new year. In many Asian cultures, the color symbolizes good fortune and joy. The Vietnamese New Year celebration of Tet, short for Tet Nguyen Dan which means “festival of the first day”, is celebrated over three days as opposed to the traditional 15 of the Chinese New But nowadays Chinese New Year calls are generalized as Bai Nian, and He Nian is out of use. People often prepare gifts and start to pay Chinese New Year calls on Lunar January 1st. There are several types of Bai Nian: greeting the elders at home, visiting relatives, visiting friends & colleagues, visiting neighbors, etc. The visits to relatives and friends will only begin on the third day of the New Year and last until the 15th day of the festival. This custom on Bai Nian is reflected in the ancient sayings: 初一拜本家, 初二拜岳家, 初三拜亲戚 (literally translated as first-day own parents, second-day in-laws, and third-day relatives). On January 29th, New York Chinese Freemasons Athletic Club (CFMAC) will host a Lion Dance parade through the heart of Chinatown. The parade route starts at the Athletic Club on Canal Street around 4 MOST POPULAR GIFTS TO GIVE FOR BAI NIAN (拜年) Bai Nian, 拜年, is when you visit your friends’ and family’s houses to exchange Chinese New Year Greetings to each other (If you want to learn the most basic ones, please see post here). Once the Chinese New Year Greetings are exchanged, lucky money then also gets exchanged (Depending on Bai Nian. This is the first thing one should do during CNY 2025 – from the very 1st day of Chinese New Year and throughout the entire celebration of the festival 2020 is the year of the rat in the Chinese zodiac, so go one step further and use some timely rat-themed ones such as “鼠年吉祥” (shu nian ji xiang) or “ 鼠年行大运” (shu nian xing da yun). Both mean “good luck in the year of the rat”, and the “鼠” can be interchanged with any other animal for future years. There are multiple blessings and greetings for Chinese New Year. But there are variations even for the most basic “Happy New Year!” The simplest is, of course, Happy New Year: 新年快乐 (xīn nián kuài lè). China also has many dialects, such as Cantonese, Shanghainese and the Beijing dialect. Since Chinese New Year is on the way (and thanks to Xiaohouzi's great suggestion), I've been thinking all about the new year. One term the sticks out is 拜年. One term the sticks out is 拜年. I'm very curious to know the exact meaning, where the 拜年 tradition stems from, how we could best translate it to English, and the etymology of Gosh, I had some of these questions even without leaving my former in-laws’ house during Chinese New Year. The thing that annoyed me during bai nian was that my in-laws wouldn’t call their friends before we all trekked across town and up six flights of stairs–only to find their friends out for the day! Most of the traditions we see today have been passed down from the past. Read the top 15 Chinese New Year Traditional activities below: Chinese New Year traditions 1. House Cleaning. In the days leading up to Chinese New Year, Chinese families sweep the floors, wash clothes and other things, clean spiders' webs, and dredge ditches. What cultural practices are captured by specific Chinese New Year vocabulary? “Bai nian” refers to New Year visits to family and friends. “Chu xi” is New Year’s Eve, when families gather for a reunion dinner. “Nian ye fan” is this special meal. “Shou sui” means staying up late to welcome the New Year, bringing good luck and Bai Nian (Chinese New Year greeting) - browse photos and get slideshow of Spring Festival celebration in Guilin China.
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