The lunar new year is one that many cultures participate in. If you are new to the events or have been celebrating it in your family for generations, we would like for you to share with us! Think of one of the following questions and we would love to have you share as many thoughts, traditions, or stories as you would be willing to share.
What makes the lunar new year celebration special?
What is your favorite lunar new year tradition?
What have you learned about celebrating the lunar new year?
Please email us your thoughts and stories below so we can share them with the community! Stories will be presented anonymously unless you tell us you would like us to use your first name.
Lunar new year is a special occasion in my family. We gather with family and friends to celebrate the start of the new year and eat good food. Food that all symbolizes different things for the new year. My favorite is gao, a sticky sweet rice cake, representing growth and prosperity in the new year. I'm also excited to learn about what’s to come in the year of the snake for a rabbit like me.
My culture of origin is Japanese American in Hawaii. While my family did not celebrate the Lunar New Year, each of us knew the Zodiac animal for our birth year. We also knew the characteristics, good and bad, of our animal. Of course, we always tried to be our best. As there are 11 other Zodiac animals, we note the beginning of the New Year because each of the other animals affect our sign that year. I was born in the Year of the Rat. My positive characteristics are that I am resourceful and innovative. Family and community are important to me.
Lunar New Year Celebration is a new event for me in my life. Growing up in the Bible Belt and basically being the ONLY Korean, Asian, within a minimum 1 hr drive in all directions, I really did not know anything about m heritage and culture. The Only thing available at the time I grew up was the Encyclopedia. Upon moving to Eugene OR, I made friends with a Chinese family, that knew all the holidays and everything Asian that I did not know. I am learning the story of the Lunar New Year and what it means to others and their family traditions.
When I was in Korea as a little child I would receive new clothes to wear on for new years day. We would receive lucky pouches with coins in them. During the day we would fly kites and at night after dinner we would spend the evening in front of a bonfire with the family.
Eat loads of food.
Make Dumplings.
Greet Relatives.
Get yelled at by Mom for not cleaning house correctly.
I know that people receive little red packets with money and you have to act like you don't want it when you actually do.
You have to bless the elders.
You get new clothes.
Clean the old/bad spirits and welcome the new ones.
Eating noodles each year because noodles symbolize long life.
I like to wear my a`o da`i.
Family
Money
My family calls my Wai Po and we talk.
Sharing food with family.
Getting money.
Talking to relatives.
Reuniting with distant relatives.
Talking to grandparents.
Call relatives overseas.
Eat a lot of food.
I don't see my extended family that often, maybe 2-3 times a year. The Lunar New Year is the time when we always gather with lots of good food.
Lunar New Year is the time of year I see my family. We think of our older family members and those who have passed and appreciate them. We cook together and eat a large meal.
For the weeks leading up to Lunar New Year my mom would gather all of the foods needed to give us good luck. On new years eve we would set up a table with all of the foods and offer it to the ancestors. Then we would eat vegetarian food on new year's day. The second day of the new year is when we would eat all the food we offered to our ancestors. Some of my favorite are as follows:Fish - increase in prosperityWhole Chicken - luck and wholenessCitrus Fruits and Apples - luck and prosperityPork - abundanceChinese New Year Cake - increased positionLettuce - becoming wealthyCelery - working or studying hardTray of Togetherness - good luck and fortune
The most vivid memory of celebrating Lunar New Year was when our family lived in Hong Kong. I was in elementary school at the time. Water was always in short supply in Hong Kong. Some mornings, I would have the responsibility of taking a couple of water buckets and lining up to get the day’s supply of fresh water at the public faucet. Bath water was conserved to flush the toilet or mop the floor. There was a public restroom in the neighborhood and trucks would come by to pick up the human waste there and at homes as well. The restroom was a simple concrete building with a trench in the middle. During New Year's time, firecrackers were plentiful. Afterall, what would kids do with all that lucky money. Children (my brother and I included) were known to light firecrackers and throw them into the public restroom, knowing that it was occupied. Sometimes we use a section of metal water pipe and launch the firecrackers like bazookas into the restroom from afar to avoid detection. One can imagine the loud boom and the shocked occupant.
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