COVER STORY: Learn how community members celebrate lunar new year

Every year, Lunar New Year is celebrated by more than a billion people globally, including in China, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Mongolia. It marks ushering the next lunar calendar, and 2023 stands as the Year of the Rabbit.

happy Lunar New Year 2023

This year, Lunar New Year begins on January 22 and ends on February 9. Typically, in Asian countries, the public holiday means seven days off from work in offices, banks, factories, and shops, but it is a total of 15 days of celebration. In China, Lunar New Year is also known as the Spring Festival.

DECOR Before the celebrations begin, most households will decorate their home with red lanterns, elegant orchids, kumquat trees, red paper for windows and doors, and hang paper calligraphy displaying the inverted fu Chinese character (“fu” translates to happiness, luck, and good fortune). FOOD Lunar new year feasts include dumplings, noodles and fish dishes. Dumplings, shaped as silver ingots that represent the currency of ancient China, are meant to bring in more wealth. Noodles signify long life, while fish symbolizes wellbeing and prosperity. Eating fish brings a surplus of money and good luck. RED ENVELOPES Stuffed with cash, coins, gift certificates and or even lottery tickets, red envelopes are the gifts commonly sought during this celebration. Typically, red envelopes are given to children, unmarried adults, and even elderly parents. Parents, godparents, aunts, and uncles are usually the givers of red envelopes.

FIREWORKS

Scaring away bad luck is why firecrackers and fireworks are used during these celebrations. It originates from a folktale about a monster Nian who was scared away by firecrackers. Loud drum rolls and huge bells are also great substitutes for firecrackers. GLOBAL CELEBRATIONS

China is not the only country that observes Lunar New Year as a public holiday. Chinatowns, from all over the world, as well as Vietnamese and Korean communities celebrate this annual holiday. They include metropolitan cities of Sydney, London, New York, Chicago, San Francisco, Las Vegas, Vancouver, and Los Angeles.

How will you celebrate the new year?

Eating with family, playing Bau cua tom ca game, red envelopes, lion dance, decorating our home with plants, flowers, and fruits.

- Mimi Luong Ye, Owner of Truong An Gifts We are visiting the Vietnamese communities in orange county, ca, for tet, and taking our children to Disneyland, while the adults in the family head to Universal Studios.

We feast with family and friends a buffet of at least 30 dishes, play mahjong, and enjoy lots of fireworks. we then have a second dinner since there is a lot of waiting until midnight and Giving and receiving red envelopes.

- Eve Li, member of Crazy Hungry Asians of Colorado

How our family celebrates Chinese New Year

By Clifton Moy

During Chinese New Year, we gather with family and have a big meal either out or cooked at home. The dishes served are selected for their similar sound to other Chinese words that have good fortune tied to them. There are also specific ways some dishes are served/prepared.

Chinese New Year Foods

Fish is always served as the word “fish” in Chinese sounds similar to the word for extra/surplus. So having the dish is similar to having extra/surplus for the upcoming year. The fish also should be served with the head and tail still intact. This is so the front and tail portions of the fish can be left over to be eaten on New Year’s Day symbolizing that the New Year will start and finish with extra/surplus. The type of fish is also chosen for the fact that the name sounds similar to another good fortune word. Crucian carp is often used for the dish since its name in Chinese sounds like the Chinese word for “good luck.”

Dumplings are another classic lucky food. They can be made to look like the gold ingots used as currency in ancient China. The more dumplings one eats signifies the money they can make in the new year. Traditionally dumplings with cabbage and radish and a type of meat are desired. These are then placed in a line on the plate not in a circle as a circle implies that one’s life will go around in circles, never getting anywhere.

Glutinous rice cake also is served for New Year’s Eve dinner. The sound of this dish is similar in meaning to getting higher year by year. Meaning the higher you are the more prosperous you are. This applies to things like a rise in success, better grades in school, children growing taller, and promotions at work.

Sweet rice balls are eaten as a symbol of family togetherness. The round shape is associated with reunion and being together. During the New Year much of the celebration is with family thus this dish helps to symbolize the union that a family has and the wish for success for all of the family in the upcoming year.

Noodles are served for their symbol of longevity. This one my mom really insists on even if someone doesn’t like it, she insists they have at least one bite. For New Year, the noodles are special and called Longevity Noodles. They are longer than normal noodles and uncut as they symbolize life. One does not want life cut “short” so symbolically the noodles remain long and uncut.

Tangerines are eaten during the dinner as they symbolize fullness and wealth. The fullness is due to their round shape, and the wealth is due to their golden color. In Chinese the name is similar to the word for “luck.”

Superstitions and Traditions

Then afterwards, we go to our individual homes and make sure to avoid fighting with others during the next few days and make sure to keep the front porch light on as well as the entry way light. We also avoid cutting our hair as the sound of hair in Chinese is similar to luck so one does not want to “cut” their luck.

During these next few days, we return to our parent’s house to pay respects to our ancestors by offering incense and burning various afterlife items as it is believed that these items that are burned are presented to our ancestors in the afterlife. Things such as paper clothes and money, are fashioned as afterlife items.

We make sure to wish those we meet a prosperous new year with the phrase “Gong Hey Fat Choy.” If one is not married, red envelopes with tidings are passed to them. Once married, they no longer receive the red envelopes from anyone except family. After having kids, the kids receive the red envelopes from others and will do so until they are married. As we say in Cantonese at the New Year, Gong Hey Fat Choy (let’s get rich)!

Moy pays respects to his ancestors during the new year.

Moy and his family live in Parker, Colo.