By the word Chinese, you may be thinking that this is a celebration which is only celebrated in Asia, but no it’s not true. This festival is celebrated from Sydney to California and everywhere in between. Although the New Year is celebrated for 15 days long, only the first two or three days of the festival are observed as a public holiday. During these 15 days of the festival, traditions and rituals are a part of this but the third day of the Chinese year is considered as the unlucky one for visiting to host guests or go to friends. The 15th day of the Chinese New Year is ended by celebrating the Lantern Festival.
How to celebrate Chinese New Year?
The Chinese new year is celebrated based on the Chinese Lunisolar calendar. Due to this, the dates keep changing annually. On the evening before the Chinese New Year, every family gathers together in the form of a reunion and have family dinner. Not only the family members are there but also the loved ones come together to celebrate this Chinese New Year. During the time of this 15 days long, the first two days are devoted to celebrating spiritually. In order to build up more enthusiasm in people and to entertain everyone, one can watch the long parades, lion and dragon dances and lots of fireworks. Many people from around the world come and visit to celebrate this festival and enjoy every bit of it.
Along with this, you will see many unique markets with lots of shopping opportunities that begin to start happening before the new year approach. Everyone gets busy with their businesses as well as in decorating their shops to light up the feeling of the New Year to come.
Whenever the family gathers to celebrate this New Year, they enjoy their family dinner with the traditional foods such as fish, Chinese dumplings, spring rolls, rice cakes and rice balls. Eating fish is considered to be symbolising wealth. To make it more entertaining, every family celebrates this with singing, dancing and lantern shows. This gives them a never-ending happiness and an unforgettable memory. Specific iconic landmarks such as the Tokyo Tower and the London eye will be turned to red in order to mark the New Year.
Where is Chinese New Year celebrated?
Not only in China, but also places like in Southeast Asia, you will get the opportunity to enjoy the Chinese New Year. They celebrate in a way that no one can forget it. Many cities are popularly known for celebrating the spirit of Chinese New Year such as Georgetown in Penang is said to be one of the largest new year celebrations. Apart from this, places like “Singapore”, “Vietnam” and “Hong Kong” also celebrate the Chinese new year.
Sometimes the situation comes when one is not able to reach Asia for being a part of the Chinese New Year; then one need not worry about it as every large city in the United States, Europe and Australia tends to celebrate the festival too. Outside of Asia, countries like London and San Francisco claim to be having the largest Chinese New Year celebrations.
Planning for the Chinese New Year
If you are thinking of travelling to Asia during the Chinese New Year celebration, it might be a little bit expensive and frustrating as things get busier than before. Also, it becomes tough to book the flights as they are pre-booked. Also, accommodations are filled beforehand, and the services of transportations become limited making it tougher for the visitors. So, one must make sure to plan and arrange everything in advance to get rid of the further hassles. During the festival time where streets may be closed, and some services such as banks will be limited so it is essential to do the proper planning in advance.
Chinese New Year 2021 Animal
Surprisingly, each year Chinese calendar is represented by one of the twelve animals, and this year of 2021 will be the year of the Ox. The Ox is considered to be second of the Chinese zodiac. Whereas, animals like rats symbolize kindness, stubbornness and conservative in china. The Chinese New Year is compared to the western one in many ways. This is popularly referred to as the Spring festival, which lasts for 15 days. Just like the saying of the west is “Let bygones be bygones, in the same way, all the grudges are simply cast aside on the Chinese New Year.
Out of all the festivals celebrated in a year, the Chinese new year is the longest public holiday in china, allowing the students to enjoy the month of winter vacation.
Therefore, the Chinese new year embarks on the beginning of the best for everyone and to have a new journey. This helps them enter into a new era of hope, love, and ambition to grow and prosper and respect their nation.
Checkout Chinese New Year 2021 Events Near You
