Chinese New Year red envelopes are a traditional gift for children or elderly people during Chinese New Year. In China, the red envelope (money) is called ya sui qian (压岁钱 /yaa sway chyen/), which means 'suppressing Sui [the demon]money'. Those who receive a red envelope are wished another safe and peaceful year. 6. Visiting Relatives Chinese New Year's Eve (Jan. 28, 2025): 6 Traditions and Activities 1. Putting Up New Year Decorations. Although some people decorate their houses several days before the festival, most people do it on Chinese New Year's Eve. Houses are decorated with red lanterns, red spring couplets, paper cuttings, and New Year's paintings. During Chinese New Year, people have a long list of things to do. From one week preceding the festival to the 15th day after, many Chinese New Year customs are widely observed for thousands of years. The family reunion dinner, eating dumplings, and setting off firework are the must-dos that you might know. What else interesting do the Chinese do? Chinese New Year, also called Lunar New Year or the Chinese Spring Festival, holds the most significant position among all Chinese festivals and holidays. It lasts for the first fifteen days of the Chinese lunar calendar, which on the Western calendar begins sometime between January 21 and February 21, varying from year to year. Chinese New Year is the most important festival for Chinese, and the most widely celebrated holiday in the world. With great passion, people observe this annual event with diverse activities, some of which are thousand-year-old traditions. Get the top 10 picks of the most popular Chinese New Year activities now. Chinese New Year's Eve Traditions 1. Putting Up New Year Decorations. People believe that auspicious decorations can drive away evil spirits and bring good luck. On Chinese New Year’s Eve, Chinese people will hang red lanterns in front of their houses, put Chinese New Year Couplets on doors, and put flowers with lucky symbols inside their houses. 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. Honoring the dead is a Chinese New Year's tradition that's kept to the word. Many Chinese people visit ancestors' graves on the day before the Chinese New Year's day, offer sacrifices to ancestors before the reunion dinner (to show that they are letting their ancestors "eat" first), and add an extra glass and place it at the dinner table on New Year's eve. The Chinese New Year is an important time to 拜年 (bàinián, to pay a new year call), so it is common practice to visit relatives and exchange auspicious greetings and Chinese gifts, including the ever-popular lucky red envelopes filled with Chinese currency. Devoted Buddhist and Daoist practitioners also often visit local temples to welcome Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the most important festival for Chinese. Some people do traditional Chinese New Year celebrations, while others choose a more modern style of celebrating CNY. The followings offer a brief introduction to several celebrations, which are generally the most popular and symbolic things that Since the mid-1990s people in China have been given seven consecutive days off work during the Chinese New Year. This week of relaxation has been designated Spring Festival, a term that is sometimes used to refer to the Chinese New Year in general. The origins of the Chinese New Year are steeped in legend. One legend is that thousands of years In Chinese, "fish" (鱼 Yú /yoo/) sounds like 'surplus'. Fish is a traditional Chinese New Year dish on the Chinese New Year dinner menu. Chinese people always like to have a surplus at the end of the year, because they think if they have managed to save something at the end of the year, then they can make more in the next year. The legal holiday is seven days long, from the Lunar New Year's Eve to the sixth day of the first lunar month. Some companies and public institutions enjoy a longer holiday up to 10 days or more, because in common knowledge among Chinese people, the festival lasts longer, from the Lunar New Year's Eve to the 15th day of the first lunar month (Lantern Festival). Every year, people around the globe celebrate Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival in China or, more commonly, the Chinese New Year (via Cnet).Legend has it that at the beginning of each year, a monster by the name of Nian, the Chinese word for "year," would come and eat villagers. Sending digital red envelopes has become a new way to greet friends or relatives that cannot physically be reached during the Chinese New Year period. It has allowed more red envelopes to be exchanged than ever before. Other Occasions for Red Envelopes. Chinese New Year is a red envelope season. But red envelopes are not limited to Chinese New On the 28th, 29th or 30th day of the new year, every household "posts the New Year's Red" (the New Year's Red is the collective name for the red festive elements pasted during the New Year, such as Spring Festival couplets, door gods, horizontal batches, New Year pictures, and the word "Fu"). Each Chinese lunar year has a Chinese zodiac sign animal. The Chinese zodiac year's stsarting date is a little different from the Gregorian year. It starts from Chinese New Year. The Chinese zodiac years chart below is provided to help you find out the exact starting and ending dates of the Chinese zodiac years. (This is especially useful for Click to see more about Chinese New Year date. 5. Why Do the Chinese Call Chinese New Year 'Spring Festival'? Chinese New Year always falls within half a month of 'Start of Spring' (beginning February 4), the first of the 24 solar terms of China's traditional solar calendar. Every year, people around the globe celebrate Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival in China or, more commonly, the Chinese New Year (via Cnet).Legend has it that at the beginning of each year, a monster by the name of Nian, the Chinese word for "year," would come and eat villagers. Some Indigenous people also celebrate Lunar New Year this time of year, including members of Mexico’s Purepecha Indigenous group.. People watch as an artist performs an acrobatic lion dance at the Dongyue Temple on the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year in Beijing on Wednesday, Jan. 29, 2025.
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