Lunar New Year, the most important festival for Chinese people is around the corner. My family back in China has been very busy preparing for it while for me living in Adelaide, my life seems to be as usual. However, one recent event happened made me realise: maybe I can do something to bring cultural awareness in this multicultural country that I truly love.
Last week, a friend of mine complained to me about the Woolworths catalogue:
“I felt very offensive after reading that.”
Why? Have you noticed something wrong on this page?
The miso soup image shouldn’t be there. It’s true that Lunar New Year is celebrated in many Asian countries, especially in China, South Korea and Vietnam. But not in Japan anymore.
Does this error matter? What do you think? For me, not so much, because I think the intention is everything. From this section, I can tell that Woolworths was aware of this festival and tried to be inclusive.
However, my friend had his valid point too. He is a marketing lecturer, so he thought if a company wants to acknowledge a festival, then do it right. Woolworths is a big brand, therefore, its marketing team should have some basic cultural awareness on this, as Lunar New Year is the biggest festival for many Asians. If they are unsure, they should at least do some research or ask their Asian employees.
On that note, a friend of mine did the opposite way. She asked me how we celebrate this festival, as her company wanted to organise a specific party for their students.
That’s the reason for this article: if you are like her, wanting to make your Chinese friends or customers feel welcomed, what are the things that you can do during Lunar New Year?
First, I’d like to share some interesting facts with you.
Lunar New Year (a more inclusive phrase to use outside of China) is also known as Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, and it’s not only a one-day festival. Instead, it lasts 16 days, from New Year's Eve to the 15th day of the New Year (the Lantern Festival). Lunar New Year’s Day is on the first new moon of the lunisolar calendar and ends on the first full moon day. That’s why this festival got the word “lunar”. This year, New Year’s Eve (the most important day during this festival) falls on this Thursday, 11th February.
So, what can you do on this day?
1. Paste rhythming couplet (Duìlián对联) and hang up the character “Fu” (福 happiness or good luck) around your venue
A couplet (the photo on your left) is usually pasted around your doorframe, and the written words on it represent your best wishes for the new year.
The word “Fu” has more flexibility for its decoration location. However, we like to hang this character upside down. Because the phrase “upside-down” is a homophone for the word for “to arrive”. Therefore, an upside-down “Fu” can be interpreted as “good luck is coming”.
Also, since this year is the year of ox/buffalo, you can buy some cute ox paper cuttings and paste them on your windows. Want to know more about the zodiac? Click here.
2. Prepare sparklers, an alternative for fireworks and firecrackers
Setting off firecrackers and fireworks is one of my favourite things to do on New Year’s Eve. But I know it’s not practical in Australia, so buy some sparkles. A friend of mine once told me, when she was studying in the UK, she missed the sound of firecrackers and fireworks so much, so she ended up downloading its audio sound and keeping listening to it.
Question Time
You might wonder why we have those two traditions, actually, there’s a story behind. A monster named Nian (year) always attacks villagers during this time. In order to scare it way, people notice Nian is frightened by the colour red, fire and loud noises. Therefore, the colour red and loud noises are everywhere.
3. Host a reunion dinner with some must-eat traditional foods
Having a family reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve is the most important meal over this festival season, so what are some must-eat foods?
Dumplings
We usually making dumplings with our family on New Year’s Eve and eat them together at midnight, so making dumplings can be a very fun activity to do with your Chinese friends. But why dumplings? Two reasons:
Dumplings, 饺子 (jiǎozi) in Chinese, sounds like 交子 (jiāozǐ). Based on our ancient timekeeping customs, a day was divided into 12 two-hour periods and the period between 11 pm and 1 am was called 子时(zǐshí), or the Zi period. Therefore, 交子is a transition from an old year to a new year.
The shape of a dumpling looks like a gold ingot (an ancient currency), so eating dumplings means “ushering in prosperity”.
To add a bit more fun: put a washed coin/date/lolly inside one dumpling, and it’s said the person who eats that would get extra luck in the new year.
A whole fish (with bones)
Fish, 鱼 (Yú), shares the same sound of another word 余 (Yú), meaning surplus. So eating fish means “always have more than you wish for“. People usually steam or braise a whole fish, as having its head and tails intact represents having a good start and end.
Glutinous rice cake
Glutinous rice cake (Niángāo年糕), is also another example of playing the sound. “Nian” means “year” and “Gao” indicates “high/tall”. Therefore, to put these two words together symbolises achieving new heights in this coming year.
But If you don’t want to organise a formal dinner, you can prepare some sweets such as lollies and fruits meaning having a sweet year ahead. Orange/tangerine is a very popular option, because “orange” (chéng橙) sounds the same as another Chinese word for “success” (chéng成).
4. Give a red envelope filled with money (Hóngbāo 红包)
Usually, elders give red envelopes to children or unmarried people. The origin of this custom is to use coins as a gift to drive off evil spirits. But if you don’t want to give money, you can always be creative, thinking of putting some other things instead.
5. Hire a dragon/lion dance performance if you have more budget
In our culture, a lion stands for power, wisdom, and superiority. Therefore, performing lion dances is our way to pray for good fortune and chase away evil spirits.
To end the article, do you want to learn how to say Happy New Year in Mandarin, or know some basic Chinese vocabulary for this festival? Watch this. Or do you want to join some related celebrations in Australia, this multicultural country? Check this out.
