Chinese New Year Traditions: Celebrating and Bonding with Family and Friends

Congratulations!! We all survived the Nian Beast last night, and here we are on the first day of the Chinese New Year celebrations. This is a day for family members to bond together. Parents and older siblings who work give younger generations and younger siblings gifts of money in red envelopes. Working people also give their parents and grandparents money in red envelopes. Everyone wears new, red clothes. No work is done, especially not sweeping. (You don't want to sweep away your luck.) Homes are decorated with plum blossoms and bowls of tangerines for luck. People eat lucky dishes, such as duck and chicken, nian gao (Year cakes), and assortments of dried fruits and candies set out in a dish with 8 compartments to join them all together. The focus is on strengthening familial ties and promoting health and prosperity. Much care is taken to ensure that young children do not cry. Eating sweet nian gao or chocolate candies shaped like traditional gold ingots helps keep children sweet and happy. At least it does, if they don't eat too many sweets.

If the weather permits, most families go out to a nearby park or recreation area in the afternoon of the first day of New Year's celebrations. You can see pictures of places that I went in Taiwan in previous posts on this blog. In northern China, it gets snowy and icy. Ice festivals are popular, especially the Harbin Ice Festival that runs for two months and overlaps the Chinese New Year. (See https://www.icefestivalharbin.com/ for more on that topic.)

Lego's 2022 Chinese New Year collection features an ice festival reminiscent of the Harbin extravaganza. Lego people do not need to social distance, and the Lego lion dancers also seem to have booked this gig.

The ice festival has it all... ice sculptures, skate rentals, people selling hot baked yams, ice fishing, and lion dancers on ice! You can also take your picture in a Year of the Tiger cut out. China takes off 3 full days for the Lunar New Year. On the first day of the New Year, families spend time with the husband's parents. On the second day of the New Year, families spend time with the wife's parents. On the third day of the New Year, people visit favorite relatives and friends. Some businesses in Taiwan stay closed for the full first week after the New Year. Parties and festivities continue for a full two weeks, even after most businesses have reopened. Chinese New Year officially ends with the Lantern Festival, which will be on February 15, 2022.