Sarah + Laura: Sarah's Fun Fact Friday - Happy Chinese New Year!!

Welcome to a Sarah's Fun Fact Friday that we hope brings you lots of luck, love and happiness!

We love Chinese takeaway above all others - in Laura's case it's a bit of a novelty, as it's one of the types of takeaways they do slightly differently in the USA- think Panda Express (which we love), but it's more 'throw in a box all together' rather than get different dishes in plastic boxes and take home to eat. But on top of noticing that our favourite takeaway is closed, we've also been keeping track of the celebrations for Chinese New Year - it is, after all, the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays!

This year we will be celebrating the year of the Dragon (also the animal of Laura's birth year woohoo!). For the Chinese, the image of the dragon is of a highly revered mythical beast that is admired for its uniqueness, beauty and auspicious powers (much like Laura). Although the dragon tends to look angry, it is actually meant to be inspiring for society- the dragon's anger is aimed at wrong-doers. So watch out!

'They say the streets have rights upon you. If you hang around on the streets and see some evil you then it is upon you to stop it with your hands if you have the might. If you don’t then at least make an attempt to stop it with your tongue. And if you cannot even do that then at least in your heart know that the act is evil and this is a very low level of faith.'

Yo!

I'm the year of the pig - definitely not as cool- although the pig is associated with fertility it also represents generosity & goodwill. The pig is honest & trouble free- ah now that kind of sounds like me!

Funny how true these are :)

The Chinese New Year falls at a different time to the Western world, as the west makes use of the Gregorian solar calendar and the Chinese have always maintained the use of the lunar calendar. Their New Year depends upon the cycle of the moon and falls on a totally separate day than the western New Year.

Here's a couple of fun facts that you may not know about Chinese New Year:

In China, it is known as the "Spring Festival".

Spring season in Chinese calendar starts with lichun, the first solar term in a Chinese calendar year.

The festival begins on the first day of the first month in the traditional Chinese calendar and ends with the Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day.

Chinese New Year's Eve is a day where Chinese families gather for their annual reunion dinner, is known as Chúxī or "Eve of the Passing Year."

Because the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, the Chinese New Year is often referred to as the "Lunar New Year".

Chinese New Year is the longest celebration in the Chinese calendar.

The origin of Chinese New Year is itself centuries old and the New Year is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations, such as Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Vietnam, and also in Chinatowns elsewhere. London is hosting their annual celebration this weekend - and we'll be there! Look out for our next post about it!

Each region and area of China celebrate the New Year in their own way. Like the Western world at Christmas, the Chinese will pour out their money to buy presents, decorations, material, food, & clothing. It is also traditional for every family to thoroughly cleanse the house, in order to sweep away any ill-fortune and to make way for good incoming luck. (Just like the Scottish and their first-footing!!).Windows and doors will be decorated with red colour paper origami and couplets with the most popular themes being "good fortune" or "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity". The Chinese New Year tradition is to reconcile, forget all grudges and sincerely wish peace and happiness for everyone. A message we could all do well to echo.