Every first day of the first lunar month is a great day for the whole of China as we celebrate the New Year in the spring festival. This is the time when families come together in family reunion as relatives come back home from abroad or various parts of the country. The festive season preparations starts early with the preliminary eve. During this day, we give offering to the kitchen god and celebrate with delicious food and laba porridge is served. The preparation for the New Year continues with homestead decorations and food purchases.
We clean our houses thoroughly to put away the bad luck of the ending year. We give the windows and doors a new look by painting them a fresh with red painting and other material decorations are hang on Chinese phrases and couplets are also parts of the beautifiers. We refresh our lives with new purchases of clothes, shoes and new haircuts and pay all business debts to mark a new start. New alters are made to replace the old ones which are brought down a week before the year ends.
The New Year’s Eve is the family reunion day where we meet with family members who had not been among us for a while. Fish is the most common dinner food and after dinner we stay indoors awaiting the New Year count down where we flicker fireworks as we usher in the New Year. The jubilation and ululation in the country fills the air as everyone is hopeful of a prosperous year ahead.
The festivity season goes to as long as the fifteenth day of the first month. The first day is specially set to visit elder family members. There are many taboos that come with the New Year as people believe in many myths. People consider it bad omen to take medicine or the rice barrel to be empty on this day. The other days all have a special occasion in which is celebrated.
On the New Year day, the celebration is at its peak after the so many preparations. The food served is always luxurious and include; fish, meat, fruits, candies and roasted seeds. Children are bought new clothes and red couplets are hanged on each side of the gate with fu written on them. We put on red or bright hues as we believe they chase away evil spirits.
When the home festive is over, we go to see the lion dance and other traditional dances or seat in the house and chat. We get together in entertainment as we also give out gifts. The gifts are mostly wrapped in red wrappers or put in red envelops. The gifts vary from person to person depending on the age and the relation. Our celebrations are colorful and ornamented by the joy of the arrival of our siblings. It is always beyond delight to seat together as a family once again. Screams of joy, laughter and ululation fill the air all over China. The lively atmosphere is not only confined in homes but also in the streets where there are lion dance and dragon lantern dance among other traditional Chinese celebration styles.
After the fifteen days of celebration, the whole country calls of the celebration season and the country goes back to business. This festive season is one of its kind and marks an important beginning of the year.
Work cited
Kaling, Mindy. Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (and Other Concerns). New York: Crown Archetype, 2011. Print.
