2013 The Year of the Snake...

Happy Chinese New Year... The year of the Snake...

My Honey's Chinese Zodiac is the Snake.
This will definitely be his year, The year he finally becomes a Daddy! 

Here's what we learned from our new story book about Chinese New Year Celebrations: According to the legend (one of the versions)…

A monster named Xi would come to the human world every 365 days.

The grandson of Emperor Shennong, whose name was Nian (year) came to help mankind… by giving a piece of sticky cake, making Xi unable to open his mouth to eat people any more (sticky cake,“Nian cake today) Nian also waved a piece of red silk, making Xi become dizzy and unable to walk. Finally Nian set off some fire crackers, the monster Xi was so frightened that he ran away and did not dare to return to the human world ever again. I love that the story was written in a way that is not scary for young children(as we had seen before). 

I know we cheated a little, we really wanted to cook our Chinese food this year but I was not feeling well, we will definitely cook for our baby girl next year!

Chinese New Year is a 15-day holiday, beginning on the first day of a new moon and ending with the full moon on the day of the Lantern Festival.

Here are some interesting Chinese traditions and superstitions...

~Chinese New Year’s Eve~

It is a tradition to clean the house from top to bottom to get rid of the bad luck gathered in the previous year (house may not be sweep again for a few days as all the new luck will be just swept away).

People go to the temples and pray for good fortune for the new year- they bring offerings of food and incense to please the spirits of the deceased so they bring good luck.

Families and friends visit each other and offer each other oranges, tangerines or sweets as gifts (prosperity).Family and friends celebrate with a big feast. Food must be prepared ahead of time, as one of the superstitions dictates that all knives must be put away, using a knife during the first days of the New Year “cuts off” all the good luck for the coming year.

Of course we had to make fortune cupcakes :0)

                                           ~The Chinese New Year ~

The festivities are a colorful display of dragon dances, lanterns, feasts and of course firecrackers.

Children receive red envelopes with money inside (“hong paos”/ mandarin) (“lai see” / Cantonese)

Dragon dances are an important aspect of the culture and tradition. A cloth dragon is held on poles by a team of a dozen or more members who make the dragon dance by raising and lowering the poles. Dragons were once imperial symbols in ancient China. They signify wealth, wisdom, power and nobility.

Most common way to wish a Happy New Year is Gong Xi – are good wishes or congratulations or Fa Cai- to become rich, acquire wealth.

Enjoying our cupcakes :0)

                                             

Love my fortune message :0)