Monthly Archives: January 2011

January 20, 2011 · 7:14 pm

Chinese New Year sayings

It is the year of the Rabbit soon! Decorate your house with Chinese new year rabbit decorations!
For those of you who are going to celebrate Chinese New Year on February 3th, we have a treat for you! In case you forgot or completely do not know any of the Chinese New Year greetings in Mandarin, we have found some phrases for you to practice to show your friends and family how cultured and prepared you are for the wonderful Chinese New Year festivities! Join us in learning a little bit of Chinese.

Happy New Year – xīn nián kuài lè – 新年快樂
Happy New Year (another saying) – gōng hè xīn xǐ – 恭賀新禧
Congratulations and Prosper – gōng xǐ fā cái – 恭喜發財
Wishing you prosperity every year – nián nián yǒu yú – 年年有餘
(Said if something breaks to ward off bad luck) – suì suì ping ān – 歲歲平安
Replace the old with the new – chú jiù bù xīn – 除舊佈新
Good luck for the year – nián xíng dà yùn – 年行大運

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January 14, 2011 · 11:56 pm

What is your Chinese Zodiac sign?

In the west, we have horoscopes. In the east, they have Chinese zodiac signs. The idea of these zodiac signs are similar to horoscopes, except horoscopes are monthly in a year whereas Chinese zodiac signs each takes up an entire year. Therefore a whole cycle of these zodiac signs would be 12 years as horoscopes cycle in 12 months. Have you ever wondered which Zodiac sign you are? We have provided you a chart right below! Find the year you were born and match it to the “animal” that corresponds it. Share this with your friends and family members and see which animal they are and if you are compatible with each other with the graph right under it. Have fun and decorate your house with Year of the Rabbit Chinese New Year decorations!
Rat 1924 1936 1948 1960 1972 1984 1996 2008
Ox 1925 1937 1949 1961 1973 1985 1997 2009
Tiger 1926 1938 1950 1962 1974 1986 1998 2010
Rabbit 1927 1939 1951 1963 1975 1987 1999 2011
Dragon 1928 1940 1952 1964 1976 1988 2000 2012
Snake 1929 1941 1953 1965 1977 1989 2001 2013
Horse 1930 1942 1954 1966 1978 1990 2002 2014
Sheep 1931 1943 1955 1967 1979 1991 2003 2015
Monkey 1932 1944 1956 1968 1980 1992 2004 2016
Rooster 1933 1945 1957 1969 1981 1993 2005 2017
Dog 1934 1946 1958 1970 1982 1994 2006 2018
Pig 1935 1947 1959 1971 1983 1995 2007 2019

The 3 animals which are evenly spaced from one another in the zodiac circle are generally considered to be good matches. Rat, Dragon and Monkey ; Ox, Snake and Rooster ; Tiger and Horse and Dog ; Rabbit, Sheep and Pig are suitable for one another. Matching symbols on the Zodiac chart indicate compatible signs.
The signs that are opposite each other in the Zodiac Circle chart are poor matches. Generally a Rat and Horse; Ox and Goat; Tiger and Monkey; Rabbit and Rooster; Dragon and Dog; Snake and Pig will not get along with each other. These signs make poor partners in love and in business. Family members who have opposite signs may experience friction and disharmony in the home.
Each person is a combination of the sign of the year they are born in as well as influences of the time of day and the larger cycles of the zodiac. You may find that even though a person was born in a year that would seem to make you a poor match, the other influences that you share balance the ill effects of incompatible signs and make for a very good relationship — or cause problems in even the most compatible signs!
This year is the year of the Rabbit. Is this your sign?

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January 9, 2011 · 10:08 pm

Origin of Chinese New Year

Do you know how Chinese New Year came about? We weren’t quite sure ourselves, so we performed a small research to find out all there is about this holiday. Start putting up Chinese New Years decoration afterwards and join the festivities!


The Origin
Chinese New Year is the first day of the lunar calendar, so it is also called the Lunar New Year. And it is also referred to as the Spring Festival since it is the beginning of the Spring term, which is the first term of the 24 terms on the lunar calendar.

It was recorded that Chinese started to celebrate Chinese New Year from about 2000 BC, though the celebrations were held on different times under different emperors. They started to celebrate Chinese New Year on the first day of the lunar calendar based on Emperor Wu Di’s almanac of the Han Dynasty.

Legend says the celebrations of Chinese New Year may be related to a beast known as Nian. The beast Nian came out to eat people on new years until an old man found a way to conquer it. Then people started to observe and celebrate Chinese New Year. The word “Nian” now has the same meaning as Chinese New Year, which is used as commonly as Chinese New Year. And people often use the term “Guo Nian”, which may originally mean “passed or survived the Nian”. Now everyone loves Guo Nian.

The lunar calendar is represented by twelve animals. Each year is represented by one animal. The twelve animals in order are: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. The Chinese zodiac is also based on the 12 animals. 

Traditions and Activities

Preparation


Usually the preparation starts a month before the new year. The preparation includes thoroughly cleaning and decorating the house, buying new clothes, preparing enough food for at least two weeks. The decorations are highly symbolic with a lot of lucky words, printed paintings and red colors everywhere. Kids are busy in shopping for different kinds of firecrackers. Everyone gets a haircut before the new year. So everything and everyone looks new and fresh on the new year. 

New Year’ Eve
The New Year’s Eve is the time for families. The New Year Eve’s dinner is the biggest dinner of the year, much like Thanksgiving dinner in the United States. The dinner is full of symbolic meaning, such as Chinese dumplings implying wealth since they have the shape of ancient Chinese gold or silver ingots. Everyone, even children, drinks a little Jiu (usually hard liquor), which symbolizes longevity since Jiu has the same pronunciation as longevity in Chinese. Then the family chats while watching national TV shows or listening to radio together until the coming of the new year. In China, the national TV shows have been prepared for a few months by a group of famous entertainers.

 

Firecrackers
Firecrackers are set off as soon as the new year arrives. You can hear or see firecrackers everywhere and this usually lasts for a few hours. Some people will continue to play firecrackers occasionally through out the first half of the first month. Traditionally fireworks are the sign of getting rid of the old and welcoming the new. Fireworks are now banned in China, so this tradition is history. 

 

Red Packets
Giving Hongbao or red packets during Chinese new year is another tradition. A Red packet is simply a red envelope with money in it, which symbolizes luck and wealth. Red packets are typically handed out to the younger generation by their parents, grand parents, relatives, and even close neighbors and friends.  

Dragon and Lion Dancing
Dragon and Lion dancing is another tradition of Chinese New Year. Traditionally, two people wear a huge lion or dragon costume and dance. The lion dance dates back to the Han Dynasty (205 B.C. to 220 A.D). It is an important tradition in China. Usually the dance is part of festivities like the Chinese New Year, grand openings of businesses, and weddings. If well-performed, the lion dance is believed to bring luck and happiness. Let your children jump, bounce, hop and leap with a lion dance costume to help bring happiness and luck. Also, the lion head makes a unique Chinese New Year’s decoration.

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January 1, 2011 · 10:36 pm

H A P P Y 2 0 1 1 !!!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!! I hope everyone had a blast last night during New Year’s Eve and did not drive home intoxicated! I had a lot of fun myself and am so blessed to be around all my great friends and my family. Goodbye 2010, it has taken us on a lot of journey, through ups and downs. We welcome 2011, a new year that will give us new hope and renewed resolutions that we can hopefully stick by! May this year be as great as it can be for all of you. I wish you all the best!

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