Chinese New Year Dish

Chinese New Year Dish is a showcase of the feelings of love and respect harbored by the Chinese people for their culture. In China, New Year is a pretext of family reunion, where folks of the family gather for feast and acknowledge the spirits of their forefathers. During the celebrations, traditions and customs are very carefully observed in everything from food to clothing. Traditionally dinner is usually a feast of seafood and dumplings, symbolizing prosperity and good wishes. Chinese New Year Dish includes prawns for liveliness and pleasure, dried oysters for all things good in life, raw fish salad to usher in good luck and prosperity, dumplings boiled in water signifying a long-lost good wish for a family and Fai-hai (Angel Hair), edible hair-like seaweed to bring prosperity for the family. Given below are some of the recipes of popular Chinese New Year Dishes.

Dishes served on the Chinese New Year also have special significance because of the way the Chinese word for it sounds. For instance, in Canton provinces of China, the word for lettuce sounds like rising luck and fortune, so it is very popular to serve a lettuce wrap filled with other lucky dishes. Other common dish pomelo, the ancestor of the grapefruit signifies abundance, as the Chinese word for pomelo sounds like the word for "to have". Tangerines and oranges are gifted during Chinese New Year as the words for tangerine and orange sound like luck and wealth, respectively.

The custom-making dishes of fish also mark the festive celebrations. The word for fish, "Yu," is a homonym of the words for wish and abundance. Hence it is customary on the New Year Eve to serve a fish at the end of the evening meal, thus wishing for abundance in the coming year. For added significance, the fish is served whole, with head and tail attached. It symbolizes a good beginning and ending for the next year.

Chinese New Year Party Decoration

The Chinese New Year is the first date of the lunar calendar which offers tribute to the vividness of the Chinese culture and tradition. In China, the New Year is that time of the year when family members gather at each other's homes for celebrations and shared meals on the New Year's Eve and acknowledge the souls of their ancestors. This is a time for the Chinese to greet each other and congratulate themselves on having passed through another year, a time to drop the gone year into the silence limbo of the past and to ring in the New Year. Decoration plays an important role in every party; therefore preparations for the Chinese New Year Party Decoration tend to begin a month from the date of the Chinese New Year. Given below are some of the tips for Chinese New Year Party Decoration.

A huge clean-up needs to be done before the New Year. Clean you house from top to bottom, to sweep away the dust of the gone year. Give a new coat of red paint on the doors and windowpanes. As, the color red is considered lucky and is believe that it scares the evil. For decorations one can set the tone of the party with abundant use of red and gold as these colors are believed to cast away the evil. Create a festive ambience with red and gold scented candles.

You can also hang "spring couplets" around the house. Spring couplets are paper curls and squares engraved with blessings and auspicious words, such as "springtime", "good fortune", "good health", "wealth" and "longevity". It is customary to paste them upside down as the Mandarin Chinese word signifying upside down "tao", is a homonym of "arrival." Thus, the paper squares signify the "arrival" of spring and the "coming" of prosperous times. Paper lanterns easily available online or at stores will bring forth the true essence of the festivity.

Chinese New Year Music

Chinese New Year Music plays an important part in the celebrations and excitement engulfing the festival of Chinese New Year. Traditionally the Chinese considered that sound influences the harmony of the universe. In China, the New Year is not just about merriment but also a time of reflecting on the rituals and customs. It is a well known fact that for ages Chinese tradition was deeply influenced by the teachings of Confucius, who thought of music as the highest and ultimate means of calming the unrest passions and of dispelling conflict and lust. The Chinese New Year Music is inseparably bound with the Chinese belief systems, which again refers to how people believe and behave, philosophically and religiously.

Chinese New Year Music is the collection of vocal and instrumental music created and played by Chinese people. In Chinese music, the single tone is of greater importance than melody. The tone is an important trait of the instrument that produces it. Musical instruments are categorized into eight classes according to the substances from which they are made. The eight classes are gourd, bamboo, wood, silk, clay, metal, stone and skin.

Usually Chinese New Year music is played on traditional instruments, especially Chinese drums. Some of the popular music for New Year celebrations are "Chinese New Year Music", "Dancing Dragon and Phoenix", "Deng Li Jun's Happy New Year Album" and many more musical items to usher in the New Year.

Chinese New Year Dragon Dance

Chinese New Year Dragon Dance showcases the best of Chinese traditions and customs. For centuries, Chinese have shown great belief and respect towards dragon. The people of China have faith in a long held belief that they are descendents of the dragon, an age old conviction which is firmly embedded in their customs and traditions. Whereas in western cultures dragons are usually regarded as a symbol of scare and malevolence, in China the dragon is held in high esteem for its supernatural power, goodness, fertility, vigilance and poise.

The most exciting and spectacular way of expressing gratitude for the dragon is the dragon dance. From a ritual rain dance to a popular entertainment performed during the Chinese New Year, the dragon dance has come a long way. The Chinese New Year dragon dance symbolizes the bringing of good luck and success in the coming year for all the human beings on earth.Dragons are considered as the governors of rainfall. In China, where the majority of people depend on agriculture for their livelihood, the timely arrival of rains is a necessity. The legends say that the dragon dance was first performed as a means of appeasing the "Dragon King" into releasing rain onto the drought stricken lands of the farmers.

Dragon dance is an integral element of Chinese New Year celebrations. The New Year in Chinatown ends with the lantern festival on the fifteenth day of the month. In many areas the best part of the lantern festival is the dragon dance. In the dragon dance, a team of dancers carry the image of dragon on poles. The lead dancers of the troupe lift, dip, thrust, and sweep the head which may display animated features controlled by a dancer. The dance troop mimics the supposed movements of this winged spirit in a wicked and undulating manner. Musical accompaniment is often supplied in the form of musicians with traditional drums, cymbals and gongs. In China dragons are not just winged creatures portrayed in the ancient mythologies but an entity deeply embedded in the soul and heart of every Chinese. And the excitement surrounding the dragon dance proves every bit of the belief. It is considered that the longer the dragon, the more luck it will bring to the society. As a result, Chinese communities make every effort to have very long dragons dancing during the New Year.

Chinese New Year Festival

Inspite of the immense changes in the post modern world of China, people still view their life from the historical vantage point of the ancient traditions and customs. This is best explained by the zest with which the Chinese all across the globe celebrate the Chinese New Year Festival. Everyone knows that the first of January marks the first day of a new calendar. But the first day of Chinese New Year falls on the first new moon after 1st of January. Chinese New Year Festival is a family celebration with food, light, fireworks and lots of interactive activities that strengthens filial ties.

Chinese put their family in a very significant position as they consider it as a way to keep the family blood running. The Chinese New Year Festival starts the night before Chinese New Year as family members gather together for a traditional dinner known as “surrounding the stove” and acknowledge the spirits of their ancestors. The Chinese New Year Festival spans across fifteen days with each day having its individual importance.

On the first day of the Chinese New Year it is believed that the Chinese New Year God ascends to heaven to pay their respects and also report on the household chores to the Jade Emperor, the supreme Taoist deity. Therefore many folks abstain from having meat on the first day of the New Year because it is believed that this will ensure healthy and happy lives for them. On the second day, the Chinese acknowledge their ancestors as well as pray to all the gods. People feed dogs as it is believed that the second day is the birthday of all dogs. The third and fourth days are for the sons-in-laws to offer respect to their parents-in-law. The fifth day is known as Po Woo. On that day people stay at home to usher in the God of Wealth. It is customary not to visit families and friends on the fifth day because it will bring both parties bad luck. From the sixth to the tenth day, the Chinese greet their acquaintances, relatives and friends and wish them a happy and prosperous year ahead. They also visit the temples to pray for good luck, riches and health.

Chinese New Year Lion

China can be called a cornucopia of celebrations that spread happiness, prosperity, a sense of unity and above all gives an opportunity to express gratitude to the forces of culture. Chinese New Year is the most awaited and celebrated festivities all across the world. The Chinese New Year is not only an occasion to commemorate a new beginning but also that time of the year which is induced with a sense of gaiety and merriment. The lion dance is a popular recreation for the Chinese during their New Year festivities. The Chinese Lion Dance has been both an unique and integral element of Chinese culture for over a thousand years. Wrapped up in various legends and folklores, the lion dance of China has some of the most fascinating stories related to its origin.

There are different myths about the origin of the lion dance but none of them have any real historical records. According to one of the legends many years ago there was a lion which appeared in a village and caused harm to the people and domestic animals. A Kung-Fu expert came to know of this and went into the forested mountain to fight with the lion. He fought with the lion on three occasions but was unable to win over it. So he trained some of the villagers in Kung-Fu with the intention to kill the lion. A few months later, they went up to the mountain again and killed the lion. The villagers, in order to rejoice this occasion of the victory over evil, followed the steps of those who fought with the lion and thus the much popular lion dance came into being. Another saying was that the King of China, the Ching of the Ching Dynasty had seen a lion dance in one of his dreams and he then ordered the guards of the palace to dance in accordance with what he had seen in his dreams after he woke up.

Besides the dragon dance, the lion dance is too a crowd pleaser in New Year’s Parades and other celebrations throughout the year. The Lion Dance also plays a significant part in the consecration of temples and other holy places, at business openings, planting and harvest times, business celebrations, and religious rites. In China, the lions are considered as a symbol for joy and happiness.

Chinese New Year Masks

The colorful and exciting celebrations for the Chinese New Year last for several days and end with the lantern (Yuanxiao) festival. Chinese New Year Masks display the feelings and emotions of merriment associated with the festival. Chinese people all over the world usher in the New Year by cooking special food, cleaning their homes, purchasing new clothes and buying presents for friends and family. In the midst of all these activities, various artworks like Chinese New Year Masks in rich colors display the essence of the festivity.

Chinese New Year Masks are made of varied materials including cloth, paper, grass, leather, metal, shell, and carved of stone or wood. They are painted with Chinese symbolic designs and vivid colors. Some masks have realistic human or animal features like lion or dragon, while others provide a grotesque appearance. Red is considered as a lucky color for Chinese people, therefore there are lots of red masks worn during the celebrations of New Year. Chinese New Year Masks are amongst the best creations in the art world and are highly sought after by art collectors.



Many of the masks or some of its replica can be viewed in museums and art galleries in many parts of the world. Chinese New Year is swathed in beliefs of gods, spirits of ancestors, legendary beings, good and or evil, the dead, animal spirits, and other beings believed to have supreme power over humanity. Masks featuring such supreme powers are honored and are worn during the rituals surrounding the Chinese New Year like lion dance or dragon dance. Chinese New Year Masks are also hung around the homes as decoratve.