In different parts of China, New Year traditions are very different. The traditions presented below are the most typical for all Chinese.

Dinner on New Year's Eve

New Year's Eve dinner is of great importance for the Chinese on this day. During the feast, a family reunion takes place, which is especially important for those whose family members have left the house and live separately. The gala dinner usually includes fish. And in northern China, dumplings are an essential dish. These two dishes symbolize prosperity. Other dishes depend on personal preferences. Most Chinese people have New Year's Eve dinner at home rather than in restaurants.

New Year's fireworks

In ancient times, fireworks were set off to exorcise evil from China. Since then, it has become a tradition and immediately after 12 o'clock in the night on New Year's fireworks are launched, which symbolizes the coming of the New Year and the expulsion of evil. There is a belief that people who set off fireworks on New Year's Eve will find good luck in the coming year.

Show Sui

Show Sui is a festive family pastime after the New Year. Family members usually stay up all night watching holiday shows on TV and setting off fireworks. Although some may only stay until the middle of the night when the fireworks stop.

According to the legends, there was a mythical monster called the Year. "Year" appeared on the night of the new year of the Chinese calendar and harmed people and livestock. Over time, people discovered that the "Year" is afraid of red, fire and loud noises. Therefore, on Chinese New Year's Eve, they set off fireworks, decorate everything red, and stay awake all night to drive away the "Year".

red envelopes

Red envelopes usually contain between one and several thousand yuan. The amount of money must be even (usually by the first signs (for example, 30 and 50 are not even, although you can still often find banknotes of 30-50 yuan, but they must be freshly printed, since everything New Year's should be new, bring good luck and wealth), since an odd amount is given for funerals.The number 8 is considered lucky, as it is consonant with the word wealth, as well as the number 6 is a good number, as it is consonant with the word "smooth", i.e. wishing a good year. Sometimes they put and chocolate coins.Usually they are given by adults, especially married couples to children on New Year's Day.It is believed that the red envelope expels evil from children, makes them healthy and increases their life expectancy.

Gift exchange

In addition to red envelopes, it is customary to give small gifts (usually food or sweets), usually given by elders to younger ones, or between friends or relatives. Typical gifts are fruits (usually oranges, but pears are excluded), pies, biscuits, chocolates, sweets, sweets, and more.

New Year's fairs

Fairs open on New Year's days, where you can buy all kinds of New Year's goods, such as clothes, fireworks, decorations, souvenirs, food, etc. Usually such fairs are decorated with a large number of lanterns.

small year

The minor year begins on the 23rd or 24th of the last month of the year. It is said that on this day the food god leaves the family to go to heaven and inform the Emperor of Heaven about the family's activities. The Chinese on this day hold a religious farewell ceremony for the god of food, which includes burning a painting of the god. During the Chinese New Year holidays, people buy a new food god painting and hang it in the kitchen.

Cleaning

A few days before the Chinese New Year, the Chinese arrange a general cleaning in the house, which symbolizes getting rid of the old and welcoming the new. In ancient times, when not everyone had baths, the Chinese used to take a bath to celebrate the New Year.

decoration

After cleaning is completed, people decorate their homes to celebrate the New Year. Most of the decorations are red. The most popular decorations are Fu, Dui Lien, lanterns, New Year's picture, door god and others.

Flowers

Popular decoration flowers for Chinese New Year, usually sold at New Year's fairs

FamilyPhoto

A very important Chinese New Year tradition is a joint photo of all the assembled relatives. The oldest man, the head of the family, sits in the center.

Spring (New Year's trip)

Traditionally, Chinese families gather on New Year's Day. In today's China, Chinese people in various cities in China return home for family dinners on New Year's Eve. Usually it starts 15 days before NG. This 40 day period is called Chunyun, the "spring transport", which is known as the world's largest annual migration. During this period, there are so many internal movements that this number is greater than the entire population of China.

Year of the Yellow Dog will officially come into its own on February 16. For more than two thousand years, the annual celebration of the New Year has been held on a grand scale. So, in the old days, due to the lack of seasonal work in agriculture, the festivities lasted more than a month, but in the modern world - a week and a half. However, this is not reflected in any way at the level of general fun.

ancient and chief

Chinese New Year has a number of differences, one of which is the absence of a fixed date. A specific day is selected from January 21 to February 21, it depends on the lunar calendar: this will be the second New Moon immediately after the date of the winter solstice.
Another difference is the name of the holiday. Due to the huge popularity of the New Year, which is celebrated from December 31 to January 1, the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire call their celebration the Spring Festival.

Can't sleep

Each country has its own non-trivial customs for celebrating the New Year. China is also not far behind, because in this country you can’t go to bed on New Year’s Eve. According to legend, it is during this period that everything bad comes out to hunt in order to attack the sleeping Chinese. For those who do not want to face problems, it is better not to go to bed.
For the same reasons, locals do not buy shoes on the eve of the holiday and do not cut their hair.

You can make noise!

And even necessary, because the holiday simply must be noisy! The Chinese should have no difficulty with this question, because they are excellent masters of the production of a large variety of fireworks. Modern Chinese New Year is hard to imagine without colorful lights and deafening pops. And in the old days, when loud firecrackers did not yet exist, the population used any household items, because the main task is to scare away evil spirits. Bamboo sticks were also burned in the ovens, which, when burned, created a crack.

Magic Nian

What is Chinese New Year without magical characters? One of these is a mythical monster nicknamed Nian. The monster, especially hungry on the first day of the year, is not at all averse to eating not only animals, but also people, especially children who behave badly. In order not to become the prey of a bloodthirsty monster and appease him, it is customary to leave food and drinks on the thresholds of temples and houses.

Hide mops and brooms

By the holidays, you need to clean everything perfectly in your house, and then hide all the cleaning items out of the evil eye. There is a belief: on New Year's Eve, the gods send each family their blessing and good luck for the whole year, which settle in the form of dust. That is why you can not start cleaning immediately after the celebration.

two tangerines

Another entertaining tradition for the Chinese New Year. Upon arrival, in addition to other gifts, you need to bring two tangerines, and when you leave, take another two tangerines as a gift from the hosts and other participants in the celebration. Everything is explained quite simply: the phrase "a pair of tangerines" in Chinese is consonant with the word "gold". So delicious fruits are a symbol of wealth and prosperity.

Shout out wishes

Have you noticed how the Chinese like to talk loudly? Usually such behavior speaks of poor upbringing and irritates others, but here it is different. The language of the Celestial Empire is one of the most difficult in the world, and in order to be heard, some words have to be shouted out. The same is true with wishes. On the Chinese New Year, you need to shout out your cherished desires. The louder, the more likely that everything will come true in the near future.

Not a tree, but a Tree of Light

There is no tradition of decorating a Christmas tree in China, but there is another interesting ritual. The country's favorite color is red, which is believed to bring good luck. Here, the most ordinary tree is decorated with red lanterns and balls, and it is called the Tree of Light.

People tend to spend the New Year holidays outside the state. Some go to the States, others to Europe, others to China. Those who prefer the latter option are often disappointed because they do not know when the New Year is in China.

As a result, they arrive in the country either too early or too late, while a short vacation does not allow them to stay.

Chinese people celebrate the New Year on the first full moon. It comes after the full lunar cycle and precedes the winter solstice. Let me remind you that this event falls on December 21st. As a result, Chinese New Year can be January 21, February 21, or any other day in between.

In 2013, the Chinese celebrated the New Year on February 10, 2014 for them began on January 31, and 2015 on February 19.

How is New Year celebrated in China?

In China, as in other countries, the New Year is the main and favorite holiday. True, called Chun Jie.

Residents of the state celebrate the New Year for more than two thousand years. According to historians, for the first time the Chinese began to celebrate the New Year during the Neolithic. At that moment, they celebrated several holidays, which are the prototypes of the New Year.

In China, the New Year is celebrated at the end of winter according to the lunar calendar. The date is floating, so the New Year holidays start in different ways.

After the transition to the Gregorian calendar, the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire call the New Year the Spring Festival. People call him "Nyan". Let's talk more about the celebration in China.

1. The celebration of the Chinese New Year is a real festival that lasts for half a month. At this time, every citizen of the country can count on a week of official holidays.
2. In China, theatrical performances, pyrotechnic shows, spectacular carnivals are held. Each of these events is accompanied by fireworks and firecrackers. The Chinese spend a lot of money on New Year's attributes. And this is no accident!

Myths of the New Year

According to an ancient myth, on the eve of the new year, the deep sea erupted a terrible monster with horns, devouring people and livestock. This happened every day until a beggar old man with a cane and a sack appeared in Tao Hua village. He asked the locals for shelter and food. Everyone refused him, with the exception of an elderly woman, who fed the poor fellow with New Year's salads and provided a warm bed. In gratitude, the old man promised to exorcise the monster.

He dressed himself in red clothes, painted the doors of the houses with scarlet paint, lit fires and began to make a loud noise using "fire rattles" made of bamboo.

The monster, seeing this, no longer dared to approach the village. When the monster left, the villagers held a big feast. From that moment on, during the New Year holidays, the cities of the Celestial Empire turn red from decorations and lanterns. The sky is constantly lit up by fireworks.

And so a list of mandatory New Year's attributes was formed: firecrackers, incense, crackers, toys, fireworks and red items.

1. Regarding the celebration, we can say that it is strictly forbidden to sleep on the first night. Residents of China at this time guard the year.
2. On the first five-day holiday, friends are visited, but gifts cannot be brought. Only small children are given red envelopes with money.
3. Among the festive New Year's recipes, the Chinese prepare dishes whose names are consonant with luck, prosperity and happiness. Fish, meat, soybean curd, cake.
4. As part of the Chinese festival, it is customary to honor the departed ancestors. Each person makes small offerings of jewelry and treats to the spirits.
5. The New Year ends with the Lantern Festival. They are lit on every street of cities, regardless of size and population.

You learned the intricacies of celebrating the New Year in China and made sure that the Chinese New Year holidays are a colorful, amazing and unique event.

Traditions for Chinese New Year

In China, they celebrate the New Year differently than in other countries of the world, because the Chinese remain faithful to their ancestors and do not forget New Year's traditions.

1. New Year's holidays are accompanied by general fun. Each family creates as much noise in the house as possible with the help of firecrackers and firecrackers. The Chinese believe that noise drives away evil spirits.
2. At the very end of the noisy celebration, the Festival of Lights is held. On this day, colorful events are held on city and rural streets with the participation of lions and dragons, which enter into a theatrical fight.
3. The celebration of the New Year in China is accompanied by the preparation of special dishes. All of them consist of products, the name of which coincides in sound with the words symbolizing success and good luck.
4. Fish, oyster mushrooms, chestnuts and tangerines are usually served on the table. These words sound like wealth, prosperity and profit. There are meat dishes and alcoholic drinks on the New Year's table.
5. If you celebrate the New Year visiting a Chinese family, be sure to bring two tangerines to the owners of the house. Before they leave, they will give you the same present, since two tangerines are the consonance of gold.
6. A week before the New Year, Chinese families gather at the table and report for the past year to the gods. The God of the Hearth is considered the main one. He is gratified with sweets and smeared with honey.
7. Before the celebration, five paper strips are hung on the door. They mean five varieties of happiness - joy, luck, wealth, longevity and honor.
8. Evil spirits are afraid of the color red. Not surprisingly, during the New Year holidays, it is red that dominates.
9. In many countries, it is customary to put up a Christmas tree on New Year's Eve. In the Celestial Empire, they put the Tree of Light, which is traditionally decorated with lanterns, garlands and flowers.
10. The Chinese New Year's table is lavish. True, they are in no hurry to use a table knife at the table, because this way you can lose happiness and good luck.
11. In China, the New Year is celebrated before dawn. Adults are given objects that symbolize the desire for good luck and health. Among them are flowers, subscriptions to sports facilities and lottery tickets. Beautiful and pleasant

Guys, we put our soul into the site. Thanks for that
for discovering this beauty. Thanks for the inspiration and goosebumps.
Join us at Facebook and In contact with

For the Chinese to hear January 1 "Happy New Year!" just as wild as if you were congratulated on March 8 in winter. The Chinese New Year comes later than the Western one and, unlike the banal change of the calendar, has much more meaning.

Chinese New Year is a spring festival. It falls on one of the days between January 21st and February 21st. And this is what happens in China two weeks before and two weeks after the holiday.

Firstly, it is customary to celebrate the Spring Festival at home with the whole family, that is, about half of China working in big cities returns home at this time.

Secondly, the Chinese are not supposed to leave. There is no such clause in the Chinese Labor Code. That is, national holidays are the only opportunity to travel. This means that within two weeks after the holiday, half of China is intensively developing tourist places in the Middle Kingdom.

Thirdly, in 2016, the population of China amounted to (for a second!) 1.3 billion people. Now imagine 750 million people moving from one place to another at the same time.

The traditions of celebrating the Chinese New Year in the provinces and cities differ:

• In the Wudang Mountains (Hubei Province), all houses are thoroughly cleaned, and a red and gold image of the character Fu 福 (happiness, well-being) is hung on the door straight or upside down. The same is done throughout China. Doorposts are also decorated with red inscriptions wishing good luck in the new year. Often they hang like this throughout the year and change on the eve of a new holiday.

• Also common here the custom to hang an image of the "sweet god" in the kitchen. Before the New Year, the housewives smear his lips with honey or sugar syrup, so that when this god goes to heaven to report on the behavior of his wards, only sweet speeches would flow from his lips.
• The New Year's meal is one of the most plentiful. In Wudang, on the eve of the holiday, pork sausage is prepared and hung outside to dry.

• Making dumplings with the whole family is an integral tradition. Many families make dumplings in the form of ancient money ingots, and a coin is placed in one of them. The year will be especially successful for the one who will get this surprise.

• There can be more than 20 dishes on the New Year's table. Among them, there must be fish, chicken, pork, beef, duck - often all dishes at the same time. In poor families, only one meat dish is put on the table, but no one touches it - to show the neighbors that they can afford it, and not to actually eat it.

• A typical New Year's gift is a hongbao, a red envelope with money, which in Hubei province is usually given as a gift to children or old people. The amount depends on the wealth of the giver and the status of the recipient. The older the person, the more money it is customary to give.

• On the first day of the new year, they visit each other. The Chinese give practical gifts: cigarettes, alcohol, large bottles of vegetable oil or packages with portion boxes of milk. No romance, but a lot of good.

• Chinese New Year is red. This is connected with the legend of the terrible monster Nian crawling out on the last day of the old year, which is afraid of the color red. Red also symbolizes happiness and good luck. And thirdly, according to legend, people whose year comes in accordance with the Chinese cyclical calendar (the year of the Rat, Rabbit, Tiger, Ox, etc.) will have a difficult year. To scare away trouble and attract good luck, they are shown to wear red underwear., which appears in large quantities in stores on the eve of the New Year.

On January 25, 2020, China will celebrate on a grand scale the most important holiday in the country ─ New Year of the White Metal Rat. Actually, this is all that a simple layman knows about this holiday. We talk about the most unusual and beautiful holiday traditions in China.

New Year in China is considered the most important holiday of the year, it has been celebrated grandiosely, on a grand scale, for several millennia. Once upon a time in ancient times, the celebrations lasted more than a month, because there was no agricultural work in winter. Now that the rhythm of life has changed, the weekend has been reduced to a week and a half. However, this fact does not exclude the general fun.

The oldest, most important

Due to the great popularity of the "international" New Year, celebrated on the night of December 31 to January 1, the Chinese decided to rename their national New Year, the celebration of which often falls on the second half of the not too cold winter in this region, to the Spring Festival. It happened over a hundred years ago.

By the way, the Chinese New Year has another distinctive feature - it does not have a fixed day. The specific date of the celebration varies from January 21 to February 21 and depends on the lunar calendar: in Chinese, the New Year starts on the second New Moon after the winter solstice. It is difficult to realize this, but the Chinese for so many years have learned to understand the dates without much difficulty. So, for example, the year of the White Metal Rat will actually begin on January 26th.

Don't sleep, you'll freeze

Unusual traditions of celebrating the New Year are present in every country, in Catalonia, logs are planted at the table, in Austria they are chasing a mythical monster, but in China, on the night before a significant date, you can’t go to bed. After all, judging by the belief, on the last day before the start of the New Year, all troubles and misfortunes go hunting to attack the gaping Chinese in the truest sense of the word. So if you want to spend a year without facing big problems, stay up. Especially if you live in China.

And the Chinese are not advised to buy new shoes before the holiday and cut their hair - all for the same reason. According to them, those who break the rules will face continuous failures next year.

No fireworks? Noise!

Traditions demand: the holiday should be noisy. These days there is no big problem with this, because the Chinese are real fireworks masters, and the roar from them is more than enough (even too much). By the way, some time ago, during the celebration of the International New Year (no less beloved by modern Chinese), a local landmark, a tower that was almost 600 years old, even suffered from fireworks. The version that it caught fire precisely from firecrackers still remains unproven, but given that the fire happened in the midst of the holiday, the conclusions suggest themselves...

But here’s what’s interesting: at the time of the birth of the “loud” tradition, fireworks simply did not exist, but it was still necessary to make noise. The resourceful Chinese did not get lost - after all, by and large, noise can be created with the help of the most everyday items.

And it is also customary for the Chinese to burn bamboo sticks in ovens: when burned, they emit a kind of crack that scares away evil spirits. Today, firecrackers and sparklers have come to replace chopsticks.

Mythic Nian

One entertaining myth is connected with the celebration of the New Year in China - about a magical monster, which the inhabitants of the Celestial Empire called Nian. The monster is especially angry and hungry on the first day of the year and, according to legend, is not averse to eating not only cattle, but also their owners (yes, the good Santa Claus obviously did not work out in China). Nian especially likes small children who behaved inappropriately last year. To appease the monster, the villagers leave food and drinks on the threshold of houses and temples - the only way to avoid a sad fate and not be eaten.

We hide brooms and mops

Another entertaining tradition associated with the celebration of the Chinese New Year is to hide all cleaning items. The day before the celebration, the house must be put in perfect order, and on the eve of New Year's Eve, it is customary to hide all brooms, rags and brushes so that they do not catch the eye. This ritual is associated with the legend that on New Year's Eve, the gods bring happiness and good luck to families for the whole coming year. This luck settles in the house in the form of dust, therefore, in order not to brush off luck, it is impossible to clean it immediately after the New Year. In addition, to avoid bad luck in the coming year, the festive night cannot be spent in their own bedroom - so even the elderly leave their rooms to join their family at the festive table.

Pair of tangerines

In addition to traditional sweets and other nice gifts, in China, on the national New Year, it is customary to give two tangerines upon arrival. And leaving the hospitable house, you need to take with you the other two tangerines, already accepted as a gift from other participants in the celebration. The clue to the strange rite is simple: it turns out that in Chinese, “a couple of tangerines” sounds exactly like the word “gold”, so a present in the form of delicious fruits symbolizes the wish for wealth and prosperity in the coming year.

If wishes are not shouted out, they will not come true.

Chinese is one of the most difficult languages ​​in the world. And not only thanks to the record number of hieroglyphs, which a European seems to be unable to remember, but also due to an unusual pronunciation. Have you ever noticed that the Chinese speak too loudly? Sometimes such behavior seems to be a manifestation of bad manners and even annoying. In fact, in this language, some words really need to be shouted out, because if you pronounce them quietly, there is a risk that no one will understand you. The story is the same with wishes for the Chinese New Year: they must be shouted out, the louder, the greater the chance that everything will come true in the very near future.

Tree of Light instead of a Christmas tree

Red is one of the favorite colors in China. It is believed that it brings good luck, and since there is no traditional New Year tree in China, the most common tree, which in China is called the Tree of Light, is decorated with red balls and lanterns.

Dragons are the main guests

One of the most important events that takes place every year in all cities and villages of China is the Dragon Dance. For the first time, judging by the research, the Dragon dance appeared back in the 12th century - for the Chinese it is of great importance, because it has long been believed that certain body movements protect from grief and misfortune in the New Year. Dragons are made of paper and wire: the long body can be up to 10 meters long. The segments of the dragon's body are made separately, with a pole attached to each, which is controlled by the artists.