Lyndsey in a lantern and decoration shop during Spring Festival.
By LYNDSEY BIDDLE
China’s Spring Festival, which leads up to the much celebrated Chinese New Year, usually occurs in late January to mid February. The exact date depends on the Chinese lunar calendar. My three years spent in China gave me the pleasure of experiencing this amazing festival more than once. With decorations galore, countless delicious family dinners, and non-stop fire crackers to boot, this time of year is a real workout for the senses.
The Colors
The streets, houses, buildings, you name it, will be boldly decorated with red lanterns and red paper-cuts. These paper cuts are images and characters cut from thin paper and the designs are often quite intricate. Most of these red lanterns and wall decorations will have specials Chinese characters written on them in gold. Why so much red and gold? Red is considered a lucky color and gold signifies wealth. That’s what Chinese New Year is all about; out with the old, in with a new year, a new chance to find success, fortune, and happiness.
Lanterns hanging above Ancient Culture Street in Tianjin, China.
The Chinese hold a number of beliefs and superstitions about this time of year and about how to ensure their family’s good luck for the coming year. In many homes you will find red paper-cut decorations with characters for good luck and fortune written on them. They are placed up side down to bring the luck down into the home. Another superstition is that you shouldn’t clean your home on New Year’s Day. This will sweep out the luck. Also, all cooking for the family New Year’s Day meal should be done the night before and all cutlery should be stowed away, because if you have a knife out on the day of the new year it will cut your luck.
The Sounds
Spring Festival is one the best and one of the worst times to visit China. The sights and sounds of the holiday are enough to keep any person mesmerized but, in the Chinese fashion, the sounds in particular tend to be over done. The Chinese are mighty proud of their invention, firecrackers and fireworks. They set them off with gusto during the entirety of the Spring Festival and a number of devoted fireworks enthusiasts set them off a week before through a week following the Festival. That would be my neighbors. They set off firecrackers night and day. Mostly at night. But nobody else seemed to be bothered by it. That’s just what you do during the Spring Festival, you make a lot of racket and everyone approves. It hurts my ears to recall how loud the streets get with blasts and bangs.
The Chinese go gung-ho over firecrackers for a reason. They believe that during the New Year evil spirits try to come down to earth. The firecrackers are a way to frighten off the spirits. I think my neighbors must have been very afraid of these evil spirits considering the amount of industrial sized firecrackers and fireworks they invested in.
The Tastes
The Chinese Spring Festival is a time for family. It seems the whole country drops what it is doing to head home. I would highly advise that you do not plan to travel around the country during this time. If you are in China then you will want to stick to one location for the holiday season. Trains will be packed and plane ticket prices will sky-rocket. But no matter the difficulty in getting ticket, the Chinese find a way to get together with their families. Together, the ritual is to gather for lavish family dinners and eat your fill of traditional dishes.
Jiaozi, or boiled dumplings, are always on the New Year menu as are Nian Gao. These sweet cakes are made as a tribute to the kitchen god Zao Wang who is said to visit each family during the New Year. He takes an evaluation of the family’s actions over the past year and returns to heaven where he reports his findings. The Nian Gao is said to make Zao Wang happy so that he will give a good report on the family.
Lyndsey writes for briefcase, a website that offers luxury briefcases direct from the manufacturer. Lyndsey spent three years in China and currently lives in Kolkata, India, where she is studying the Bengali language.
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