In the news, you can often see the New Year celebrations in China. Fireworks, dragons, music… But how does it really look like? See for yourselves. The Year of the Dog has come.
Chinese New Year (which begins so called Spring Festival) is, most of all, a family holiday. For many people it’s the only time of the year when they can meet with their relatives. They often have to travel for hundreds (if not thousands) of kilometres to get home. For this reason, every year in January or February (depending on when this year the celebrations are) there’s total traveling paralyzes. Thousands of people are crowded in the train/ bus stations. Train tickets are already sold out usually one month before the Spring Festival. On the very New Year’s Day the city looks like a ghost town. All shops and restaurants are closed. All Chinese people spend that day with their family. What do they do? – Eat. You could say that in a way those celebrations resemble our Christmas. Family comes from far away, exchange gifts. They eat big dinner. Children get Hóngbāo 红包 (literally ‘red envelope’ with money). In the evening everyone watches New Year TV programme (it’s aired on literally every channel). Around midnight the fireworks begin and don’t really stop until the Lantern Festival which falls 2 weeks after the New Year. During this time no one is surprised to be woken at 5am by an explosion just outside the window. According to Chinese tradition noise and flashes of light are supposed to ward against evil spirits. The same way as red colour does. That is why every Chinese household has red lantern in from of the door (or balcony) and red sign symbolizing ‘luck’.
So, what about those colourful celebrations shown in TV? Is it just show for the tourists? – Yes and no. In the big cities those kinds of celebrations are often aimed at tourists (because, as I said before, Chinese people spend this time with their family). During the Spring Festival (which lasts 2 weeks), in a smaller towns or villages there are celebrations organized which still cultivate old traditions. You need to have luck though to be able to witness it. Each place holds celebrations on a different day.
This year I had a chance to see those celebrations in Dongbei village (洞背村) in Qingtian (Zhejiang province). What was happening?
This year I had a chance to see those celebrations in Dongbei village (洞背村) in Qingtian (Zhejiang province). What was happening?
- Lantern dance – music and red lanterns are supposed to scare away the evil spirits.
- Calligraphy – everyone had a chance to make their own ‘luck charm’, that is to be placed on the door.
- Opera and puppet show – traditional Chinese arts.
- Taiichi – there was a show after which you could try to practice it yourself.
- Food stands – must have point of every festival.
- Fireworks – there’s abundance of them during any Chinese celebration.
RSS Feed
