For many cultures across Asia, Lunar New Year—also known as Chinese New Year for the Chinese—is the biggest celebration of the year. It’s a time for buying new clothes, visiting relatives, receiving red packets, and munching on a ton of festive snacks. That’s how one of our team members at Dwell, Christine, rings in Chinese New Year back home in Singapore!
This festive season is usually noisy and vibrant—you’ll often hear the sounds of drums and cymbals when you're out and about, as many families and businesses arrange Dragon and Lion Dance performances at their homes, offices, and stores. In Singapore, lighting firecrackers is illegal, but in many neighbouring Asian countries, you'll frequently hear firecrackers being set off, and Dragon and Lion Dance performances happening in the neighbourhood. These traditions are believed to drive away evil spirits and bring good luck for the new year.
When is Chinese New Year?
Chinese New Year begins on the first day of the lunar calendar, which differs from the Gregorian calendar most of the world follows. The date changes each year, with celebrations lasting 16 days—starting on the eve of Chinese New Year. In many Asian cultures, each year is associated with an animal from the Zodiac. While different cultures have their own systems, the Chinese Zodiac consists of 12 animals. This Chinese New Year is the year of the snake, and many greetings and auspicious sayings incorporate the Chinese word for “snake” or play on its pronunciation.
Preparations for Chinese New Year
Leading up to Chinese New Year, many Chinese people buy new clothes, get fresh haircuts, and deep clean and decorate their homes. Did you know that on the first day of Chinese New Year, you’re not supposed to clean your house? It is said that cleaning on that day will sweep away the good luck for the year ahead.
Chinese New Year Traditions
There are many traditions the Chinese have on Chinese New Year. On the eve of Chinese New Year, celebrations begin as families and relatives gather for a reunion dinner. Many make a great effort to attend this special meal—even traveling long distances to be together. In Singapore, many Chinese households celebrate by having hotpot together, while others may serve traditional dishes such as Pen Cai (a festive claypot dish where luxurious ingredients like abalone, fish maw, sea cucumber, roast pork, and prawns are cooked together and served in a claypot), dumplings, spring rolls, and more!
During Chinese New Year, you’ll often see people tossing a colourful salad called Yu Sheng (or Lo Hei) in Chinese restaurants. Some families and fancy restaurants will also decorate and present the dish in a way that resembles the zodiac animal of the year. Chinese people toss the Yu Sheng as high as they can using chopsticks while shouting auspicious phrases, a practice that usually ends in a delightful mess.
Chinese New Year snacks like pineapple tarts, bakkwa, love letters, shrimp roll, peanut cookies, nian gao, kueh bangkit, kueh bahulu, and more are also popular during this period. Many households stock up on these treats to enjoy themselves and to serve visiting relatives and guests.
From the first to the last day of Chinese New Year, people partake in house visits (known as “bai nian”), offering luck and auspicious greetings to family and relatives for the year ahead. Children usually pay respect to their parents, grandparents, and other relatives by carrying two oranges and exchanging well-wishes with the elderly; in return, they receive red packets (or “hong bao”) containing lucky money. Likewise, anyone visiting a home during this festive season typically brings a pair of oranges to exchange favourable sayings with the host. Additionally, married couples give red packets to children who approach them with their well wishes. Check out the list below for greetings and auspicious sayings you can share with your Chinese friends and colleagues!
Chinese New Year sayings:
Xin nian kuai le (happy new year)
Shen ti jian kang (good health)
Xin xiang shi cheng (hope you get what you wish for)
Bu bu gao sheng (promotions at every step)
Da ji da li (hope everything thrives)
How we celebrated Chinese New Year in Dwell
We provided many different opportunities for our students to engage in Chinese New Year. This involved decorating our accommodation sites, sharing cupcakes and other food buffet style, offering chances to spin the wheel to see if you land on your zodiac animal, and giving out free red packets with gold coins in them. One of our residents at Dwell also generously invited two of our team members to share some homemade dumplings in celebration of the Chinese New Year. It was such a sweet and festive moment that really brought the Chinese New Year spirit to life!
コメント