During the Lunar New Year, the "fat choy" in the spoken Chinese greeting means "good fortune." The similar pronunciation to its name gives fat choy symbolic value representing good fortune for the As the destiny wheel turns towards the Year of the Snake in 2025, we prepare to welcome a new cycle of fortune and wisdom. The traditional Chinese New Year greetings “Kung Hei Fat Choy” (恭喜发财) in Cantonese and “Gong Xi Fa Cai” (恭喜发财) in Mandarin are not mere expressions but profound blessings imbued with the essence of ancient wisdom and celestial harmony. Fat choy is a dried black moss that is found in the Gobi desert, not seaweed, as many recipes and articles on the internet suggest. The literal translation of fat choy is “hair vegetable,” and when we were kids, we used to say to our parents at the Chinese New Year’s table, “Yes please, I would like some hair!” Therefore, it is a popular ingredient for Chinese New Year food, like in the reunion dinner. It is mostly used in Cantonese cuisine and Buddhist cuisine. It is sometimes used as a hot pot ingredient. Due to its high price, fat choy is considered a luxury food, and only used in limited occasions. It is not eaten as a staple. [4] Kung Hei Fat Choy! In Mandarin, it's Gong Xi Fa Cai or 恭喜發財 -- still the popular way to say Happy New Year in Chinese. In fact, the more accurate translation of the traditional greeting in Cantonese is "have a prosperous New Year" with wishes for wealth and good fortune in the months ahead. Considered lucky because of its name in Cantonese, fat choy, black moss is a food eaten at Chinese New Year. However, overharvesting of it has led to desertification where it grows in China. As we usher in the year 2024 with the joyous celebration of Kung Hei Fat Choy (Cantonese) or Gong Xi Fa Cai (Mandarin), we embark on a journey filled with tradition, culture, and heartfelt blessings. These greetings, deeply rooted in Chinese New Year traditions, carry with them the spirit of hope, prosperity, and good fortune. Chinese New Year is also known as ‘chun jie’ (Picture: Getty Images) ‘Gong hei fat choy’ is the Cantonese way of saying the phrase and, in Mandarin Chinese, it’s ‘gong xi fa cai Fat Choy (髮菜), i.e. Chinese black moss, shares similar sounds to “get rich” (發財). Therefore it’s a popular item to include on the Chinese New Year menu. The dish is also typically cooked with dried oysters, creating the name “Fat Choy Dried Oysters”, which shares similar phonetics to the phrase “struck it rich and prosperity Women touch the snake figure on the stone wall ahead of the Chinese Lunar New Year of the Snake, following the Chinese zodiac, as people visiting the Baiyun Taoist Temple in Beijing, Wednesday What does ‘gong hei fat choy’ mean? Saying ‘gong hei fat choy’ is not the same as saying ‘Happy Chinese New Year’. Although the greeting is frequently offered at this time of the year 3 Most Popular Chinese New Year Greeting Phrases. Usually, you only have to greet people like this the first time you see them in the new Chinese calendar year, and after that, you can return to normal Chinese greetings (e.g. Nihǎo). Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival It is spelled varyingly in English, such as "Gung hay fat choy", [207] "gong hey fat choi", [206] or "Kung Hei Fat Choy Chinese New Year Day - Red Envelope Red Envelope of Kung Hei Fat Choy 2025. In the morning, all the children are supposed to wear new clothes, pants, shoes, a hat, or a jacket. While you are studying how to greet everyone in Chinese for the Lunar New Year, remember to check out our Dos and Don’ts in our Chinese New Year Traditions post to properly prepare yourselves to ring in the new year! 23 Common Chinese New Year Greetings 1. 新年快乐 – Happy Chinese New Year. The most common greeting used during the Based on the Chinese zodiac, the Lunar New year goes by a 12-year cycle. Each year is represented by a different animal, and 2025 welcomes the year of the snake (the sixth animal in the cycle). Ingredient Name:. Fat choy, black moss, hair moss or hair weed. Traditional Chinese Name:. 髮菜 (fa cai) Black moss is neutral in nature and tasteless. The Chinese characters for dried oysters and sea moss is 蠔豉髮菜 which sounds almost exactly like 好事發財 which means Prosperity and Good Fortune. Thus, through this auspicious twist of words, you can actually feast on a savory dish of Prosperity and Good Fortune to start off the New Year of the Sheep! Chinese families often cook using black moss during the New Year in recipes such as Buddha’s Delight because the name sounds very much like ‘fat choy’ in the popular Chinese New Year greeting ‘gung hei fat choy’. This saying wishes people prosperity, happiness and luck, which is loosely symbolised by black moss. This video shows you how to say HAPPY NEW YEAR in Cantonese Gong Hei Fat Choy, Gong Xi Fa Cai 恭喜發財 (Chinese, New Year, pronunciation guide).Learn to say PRO
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