By: Jingwei Zhao
On January 21st, the Lunar New Year Festival finally began! Over 1.6 billion people of Asian descent celebrate this milestone in numerous ways. Millions of people head home to reunite with their families and celebrate the event. In China, the festivities last two weeks. However, other places like Vietnam only celebrate for one week. Many fun customs and traditions are recognized and celebrated during the festivities.
To start off, a “Reunion Dinner” is held on January 21st. This meal, widely regarded as the most important meal of the entire year, revolves around Chinese Tradition and is key in making sure the rest of your year will go well. The feast usually consists of eight to nine dishes. Eight is a lucky number and nine represents longevity in Chinese culture. An entire chicken symbolizes family reuniting and long noodles symbolize longevity. Spring rolls represent gold bars in Chinese culture and are believed to bring prosperity. 年年有余, a Chinese phrase that means that you will have an abundant year, in shown on the table through fish. This unusual meaning comes from the sounds of the words, 余 sounds like 鱼, which is fish in Chinese.
For China, the Lantern Festival marks the end of the festivities and promotes peace and forgiveness. In this event, people hang lanterns around their homes and buildings. During the festival, people march around with a dragon made of silk and paper. This is believed to scare away mythical creatures and bring good luck. People also pray for a fortunate upcoming year. This year is the Year of the Rabbit, the year that I was born. There are 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac. People born in 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, and 2023 are considered people of the rabbit. They are believed to be calm, intelligent, and very fortunate!
Despite New Year’s being most known as a Chinese celebration, many other countries participate in the festivities as well. Some of them include Japan, Thailand, and Vietnam. For Vietnam, this year is the Year of the Cat! People born in the same years as the Year of the Rabbit are also born in the same years as the Year of the Cat. People born in the Year of the Cat are also supposedly intelligent, artistic, and peaceful. The Vietnamese use the term Gong Hei Fat Choy, which means “Wishing You Great Happiness and Prosperity!”