As as child I questioned why New Year's day fell on January 1st, while Spring is the season of new birth. It just never quite quite made sense to me. I was delighted to learn that in China, New Year's is known as the "Spring Festival". Like Carnival in the West, it marks the end of the winter season.
Chinese New Year is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays and has been observed for over 5000 years. The festival begins on the first day of the first Chinese month Zhēngyuè, in pinyin. The festivities end with the Lantern Festival on the 15th day. Whereas New Year’s Eve in the West is often celebrated as a time for single adults and couples to get dressed to the nines for an evening of Champagne, dance and an amorous moment at midnight, the Chinese celebrate their Eve by getting together for dinner with family.
The menu includes foods that are associated with wealth, happiness and good fortune, including pig, duck, chicken and sweets. During this rowdy meal, family members, especially the younger ones, are often given red envelopes that contain money in even numbers that reflect good luck and honor. Adult gifts usually include oranges, cakes, cookies, chocolates, candies, and so on. The evening concludes with fireworks, which, incidentally, originated in China.
As part of the 2 week plus event, the family will thoroughly clean their house in order to sweep away ‘ill-fortune’ to make way for good fortune. Windows and doors are then decorated with red paper cut-outs conveying the standard themes of wealth and long life.
The origin of Chinese New Year itself is based on myth and centuries-old tradition. Chinese New Year is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, as well as in Chinatowns worldwide, most notably stateside, in San Francisco.
The East is big in the West
The San Francisco Chinese New Year celebration began in the 1860's during the Gold Rush era and is now the largest event of its kind outside of Asia. The festivities include two major fairs, the Chinese New Year Flower Fair and Chinatown Community Street Fair, all which culminate in their official parade, which is named among the world’s top ten parades.
Highlights include elaborately decorated floats, marching bands, martial arts demonstrators, stilt walkers, lion dancers, Chinese acrobatics, the year’s Miss Chinatown USA and the piece de resistance, the Golden Dragon -- a 200+ feet long ‘costume’ with a 6’ head. It is trimmed with rainbow pompons, colored lights and white rabbit fur. Made of bamboo and rattan skeleton, it requires a team of 100 men and women to carry the Golden Dragon. The dragon’s grande finale appearance is accompanied by 600,000 firecrackers.
For those of us who have either not quite gotten around to our new year’s resolutions, or may have perhaps already abandoned them, this colorful celebration of Spring and its promise offers renewed hope and expectation around the world.
