Q&A for How to Celebrate Chinese New Year

Peach blossom was used centuries ago by single women looking for a husband. The beauty of the plant is a reason for why it's considered lucky and women wore the blossom in their hair, as well as growing the plant in their garden, to attract men. The number “four” sounds similar to the word for “death”. This same thing holds true for many forms of spoken Chinese, Sino-Japanese and Sino-Korean. All these Asian cultures share significant historical and cultural ties, particularly with the Chinese language. Hence, this is the reason why numbers and objects which have names that are homophones for words “death” and “suffering” are typically considered unlucky in these cultures.

Firecrackers are not authorized under the Explosives Act, thus making importation, possession, transportation, storage, or manufacturing illegal in Canada. If someone spots you (the sound of firecrackers is impossible to miss), they may report you to the authorities and you'll be slapped with a lawsuit by the cops. If you're charged, you will be fined of up to $7,500.00 and/or imprisonment for up to 18 months. Fines imposed for the offense would be recoverable in the same way as fines imposed as penalties for other crimes.

Red envelopes are given to children and unmarried adults. Married couples also give red envelopes to their parents, the envelopes contain money. The money must be in new bills, and the total amount must be an even number. Certain numbers (such as four) are bad luck, so the total amount should not be one of these unlucky numbers. “Four” is a homonym for “death”, so a red envelope should never contain $4, $40, or $400.

The dates change every year. For example: Rooster will be on January 28, 2017 - February 18, 2018; Dog on February 19, 2018 - February 04, 2019; Pig on February 05, 2019 - January 24, 2020; Rat on January 25, 2020 - February 11, 2021; Ox on February 12, 2021 - January 31, 2022; Tiger on February 1, 2023 - February 19, 2024; and Rabbit on February 20, 2024 - February 8, 2025. You can continue to keep an eye on the dates online.

In China, children spend months making crafts for the New Year celebrations. Dragons play a special role in Chinese mythology and tradition and during the New Year celebrations, lively dragon parades can be seen dancing down the streets to the beat of drums and music. They can make their very own craft Chinese dragons, lanterns and plum marinades.

Check out the wikiHow articles How to Make a Chinese Paper Lantern and How to Make a Chinese Lantern for more details.

The owner or wife of the household usually prepares the food, they too leave that food out for the kitchen god. However, anyone can burn a picture of the kitchen god to send to heaven as smoke.

The Baby New Year is a personification of the start of the New Year commonly seen in editorial cartoons. He symbolizes the "birth" of the next year and the "passing" of the prior year; in other words, a "rebirth". Baby New Year's purpose varies by myth, but he generally performs some sort of ceremonial duty over the course of his year such as chronicling the year's events or presiding over the year as a symbol.

The most important part is to be with your family, as this is the biggest festival for Chinese people. Preparing the feast, watching fireworks and shows together, sending away red envelopes and best wishes (sometimes in the form of poetry) are all great ways to celebrate.

Chinese dragons traditionally symbolize potent and auspicious powers, particularly control over water, rainfall, typhoons, and floods. The dragon is also a symbol of power, strength, and good luck for people who are worthy of it. The Emperor of China usually used the dragon as a symbol of his imperial power and strength.

Canada, Mainland China, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Italy, India, Malaysia, Norway, Philippines, Ireland, Singapore, England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Wales, North and South America, Sweden, Taiwan and Vietnam.

Chinese New Year commemorates the turning of the zodiac and lunisolar calendar, similar to New Year's Day of the Gregorian calendar. Many myths and traditions unfold on Chinese New Year. It also symbolizes the rebirth and erasure of a person's past performances and allows them to start fresh. Prayers and blessings are often said to others.

You will usually see dragons, as in China. A depiction of the dragon (traditional:龍; simplified:龙) can be found in artifacts from the Shang and Zhou dynasties, with examples dating back to the 16th century BC. Archaeologist Zhōu Chong-Fa believes that the Chinese word for dragon is an onomatopoeia of the sound of thunder. The Chinese name for dragon is pronounced lóng in Mandarin Chinese or lùhng in Cantonese.

You do not have to pray to an ancestor it is just something you can do if you want.

There isn't a specific person who made it so, but there are several reasons why. Red is the color of the sun, fire and blood, and Chinese people have been celebrating these elements for centuries. The color of red is also easy to extract from plants and minerals. Red used to be the exclusive color for Chinese emperors and royal families as well, until it was later changed to yellow. Nowadays, red represents freedom, revolution (in a good way), strength and communism. These are all factors that make red special for Chinese people.

Yes, of course you can! In fact, many Asian countries celebrate lunar New Year, not just China or Taiwan.

No, not at all! Chinese New Year is usually a family gathering (including friends, possibly), so no one will really mind your choice of clothing too much, but wearing traditional clothes would be a decent option.

Actually, China doesn't actually use the lunar calendar, specifically. Like the rest of the world, most people use the Gregorian calendar, but the date for Chinese New Year is based on the Lunar calendar.

Instruments such as gongs, cymbals and drums are played to keep bad luck away. Other traditional Chinese instruments are also used, such as the erhu, pipa and gushing.