Chinese New Year (2008) of Rat
It is Chinese Lunar New Year again. For each of the Chinese year, it is assigned with an animal symbol of Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Boar. The twelve animals form a cycle that repeats itself once every 12 years.
Next Year, the Zodiac animal will start a new cycle of Rat again. All persons born in the years of 1996, 1984, 1972, 1960, 1948, 1936, 1924 has an animal sign of rats. The New Year will fall on February 7th, 2008.
Chinese all over the world will celebrate the occasion for days. China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore will take a long holiday leave for about 10 – 14 days. This will halt trade to and from these countries and a few more hundreds Chinese merchants scattered around the world.
New Year is the most celebrated festival of all important festive seasons in China. It is time for the family reunion, visiting relatives and friends. The holiday will start few days before the New Year to prepare and get ready for a long up coming holiday. People will do shopping for food and cloths. Every man will get a hair cut. Houses will be cleaned down or give it a new coat of paint.
The New Year’s Eve is a big family gathering event. Members will travel across the street, the nation and the world to have an annual reunion feast. Even if a family member could not attend, an emptied seat is allotted to symbolize that person’s presence at the banquet. At midnight, the younger members of the family would bow and pay their respects to their parents and elders.
On the New Year, every one will wear new cloths, shoes, hand bags, and so on. All things are new from inside out and top down. Everyone will behave properly telling no lie, saying no indecent words, getting up set on this first auspicious day of the year.
This is also a long awaited day for all the children. It is the day they will receive money in a colorful printed red envelope from parents, relatives and family friends. The red money envelope is called Lai-Si as good luck or Ang-Pao as red parcel. It signifies a break of the year with good fortune. The day is a busy visiting close senior relative to pay them respect and wish them all the good.
From the second day on, people begin going out to visit friends and relatives. They will take along gifts and Lai-See with the visit. Visitors will be greeted with traditional New Year delicacies, such as melon seeds, flowers, fruits and various kinds of New Year pudding and cake.
The entire week is time for entertainment and socialization. Shops and business are closed on stand still. Streets and public places are quiet except a few that has New Year programs. An air of gaiety prevails over. There are acrobats, theatrical shows, and lion dances.
Firecracker, which is meant to scare away evil spirits, can be heard at every corner in town throughout the first two weeks of the New Year. The 7th Day of the New Year is a birthday for all. Chinese considers a person is one year old when he/she is born and added a year to his/her age on this day. So, a person is automatically two years old today if he/she is born before this very day.
The New Year celebration ends on the 15th of the First Moon with Lantern Festival. In the evening of this day, people carry lanterns in the streets to participate in a grand parade. Youth will join in a dragon dance. The dragon is made of rattan, silk, and paper that stretches for a lengthy line. The impressive sight of the bobbing and rapping, weaving and swirling of the dancing dragon leads this day to end the Chinese New Year festival.