{"id":1580,"date":"2013-02-09T17:54:33","date_gmt":"2013-02-09T17:54:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/londonerfromafar.wordpress.com\/?p=1580"},"modified":"2020-05-24T16:39:19","modified_gmt":"2020-05-24T15:39:19","slug":"the-chinese-new-year-or-the-lunar-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/alondonerfromafar.co.uk\/the-chinese-new-year-or-the-lunar-new-year\/","title":{"rendered":"The Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The <strong>Chinese New Year<\/strong> is upon us again &#8211; where\u00b4s Januay gone? I am\u00a0looking forward to <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"The Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year?\" alt=\"The Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year?\" src=\"http:\/\/www.wallpaperholidays.com\/data\/media\/10\/Chinese_New_Year_2013.jpg\" width=\"194\" height=\"121\" \/>joining the celebrations in London\u00a0tomorrow. People seem to be taking a greater interest in everything Chinese these days, no doubt aided by their economic expansion as part of the so-called BRIC economies. So, there are now more and more articles on the peculiarities of their culture.<\/p>\n<p>I have been reading about\u00a0the Chinese New Year to help me prepare and better understand the activities that I\u00b4m seeing tomorrow, 10th February in London\u00b4s Chinatown. Here are some <strong>fun facts<\/strong>.<!--more--><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Chinese New Year <strong>goes by the lunar calendar<\/strong>, so it\u00a0falls on a different day every year. Next year, it\u00b4ll be on 31st January.<\/li>\n<li>It\u00b4s origin is to do with <strong>harvest<\/strong>, just\u00a0like so many other celebrations across cultures.<\/li>\n<li>The politically correct name is now\u00a0<strong><em>Lunar New Year<\/em><\/strong> in recognition to other cultures that observe that calendar too.<\/li>\n<li>Have you cleaned your house yet? If not, go and remove any traces of `bad\u00a0luck\u00b4 before the New Year. Something like `<strong>spring cleaning<\/strong>\u00b4, but during this freezing February.<br \/>\nIf you do so afterwards, you might end up removing any good\u00a0luck the New Year might bring.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Red is the colour<\/strong>. The Chinese consider red as the\u00a0luckiest colour.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Younger members of the family<\/strong> <strong>receive money on red envelopes<\/strong>, pretty <img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"The Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year? - Red Envelopes for money\" alt=\"The Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year? - Red Envelopes for money\" src=\"http:\/\/blog.zopim.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/red-envelopes-300x300.jpg\" width=\"115\" height=\"115\" \/>much as in that HSBC TV commercial which they have cleverly run again this year.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Number four is avoided<\/strong>, as the\u00a0letters closely resemble the Chinese for `death\u00b4. Spooky!<\/li>\n<li>Chinese place a big emphasis on <strong>food symbology.\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align:left;\">Bamboo shoots = wealth<br \/>\nBlack moss seaweed = wealth<br \/>\nDried Bean Curd = happiness (note: fresh tofu is not served because the color white symbolizes death and misfortune in Chinese culture).\u00a0<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"The Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year? - Fish = abundance\" alt=\"The Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year? - Fish = abundance\" src=\"https:\/\/encrypted-tbn3.gstatic.com\/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcS2VcCi4c1b8nU56bdojX5T2Qw2YUicjYOBCh7mpvYtNWXlCkp0lA\" width=\"133\" height=\"87\" \/><br \/>\nChicken = happiness and marriage (especially when served with \u00a0&#8220;dragon foods,&#8221; such as lobster), family reunion (if served whole)<br \/>\nEggs = fertility<br \/>\nEgg Rolls = wealth<br \/>\nFish served whole = prosperity<br \/>\nChinese garlic chives = everlasting, a long life\u00a0<img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignright\" title=\"The Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year? - Fortune cookies\" alt=\"The Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year? - Fortune cookies\" src=\"http:\/\/www.clickthecookie.co.uk\/chinese_fortune_cookies.jpg\" width=\"144\" height=\"96\" \/><br \/>\nLychee nuts = close family ties<br \/>\nNoodles = A long life<br \/>\nOranges = wealth<br \/>\nPeanuts = a long life<br \/>\nPomelo = abundance, prosperity, having children<br \/>\nSeeds = lotus seeds, watermelon seeds, etc. &#8211; having a large number of children<br \/>\nTangerines = luck<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<ul>\n<li><span style=\"line-height:16px;\">Chinese say `<strong>Congratulations and be prosperous<\/strong>\u00b4 to each other to celebrate the New Year.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>So, congratulations and be prosperous during the year of the snake!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-622\" alt=\"signature\" src=\"https:\/\/alondonerfromafar.co.uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/03\/signature.png\" width=\"216\" height=\"46\" \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Chinese New Year is upon us again &#8211; where\u00b4s Januay gone? I am\u00a0looking forward to joining the celebrations in London\u00a0tomorrow. People seem to be taking a greater interest in <span class=\"excerpt-dots\">&hellip;<\/span> <a class=\"more-link\" href=\"https:\/\/alondonerfromafar.co.uk\/the-chinese-new-year-or-the-lunar-new-year\/\"><span class=\"more-msg\">Continue reading &rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":88,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wpupg_custom_link":[],"wpupg_custom_link_behaviour":[],"wpupg_custom_image":[],"wpupg_custom_image_id":[],"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[105,190,301],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>The Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year? - A Londoner from Afar<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/alondonerfromafar.co.uk\/the-chinese-new-year-or-the-lunar-new-year\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_GB\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year? - A Londoner from Afar\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The Chinese New Year is upon us again &#8211; where\u00b4s Januay gone? 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