A lot of us daily meet Chinese, Malaysian and Singaporean students on campus who may be undertaking various study abroad programs, sitting next to them in lectures, sharing accommodation with them or learning their mother tongue. However, how many of us are actually familiar with the Chinese culture?
Sean Barry is in his second year at University of Nottingham, doing a course in Management. Born and raised in Hong Kong in a Chinese family, we talked to him about some of the most interesting Chinese New Year traditions, which this year falls on February 16th.
Why is it called “The Year of the Dog” and what do the natives in Southeast Asian countries give instead of presents? Keep reading and find out yourself!
1. What is the zodiac calendar and what does it mean that this year is the year of the dog for Chinese New Year?
It is one of those legendary stories from the ancient times, when there was a little competition going on between 13 animals and they decided to have a race to see which one was the best. The rat realised he would never win the race on his own, so he hopped on the ox, telling him “Let’s win this race together”, but at the last moment the rat jumped off the ox and became the winner.
Because of that, they say that if you are born in the year of the rat, you are thought to have sneaky qualities. But talking about 2018, anyone who is born in the year of the dog means they were born in 1994, 2006 and so on, and they have their own kind of traits, like the rest of the animals in the Chinese zodiac. Such people are said to be independent, sincere, loyal and decisive.
2. What are some unusual and specific traditions that people do on the Chinese New Year?
It’s such a rich festival, often lasting 12 days, although people usually celebrate the first three and then they hold a meal on the very last one to mark the end. In Hong Kong we have three public holidays for the first three days of the Chinese New Year, and then everyone goes back to work even though technically they are still “celebrating”. However if you go to China, the New Year celebrations are a whole week long so all the workers go back to their homes and have a reunion with their families.
The point of Chinese New Year is to make sure everything is new and ready again – we wear new clothes, sweep our houses, get our hair cut etc, so it is a very good time for hairdressers right before the holiday!
There are also line dances which are traditional celebrations, including usually two or three people who act in a costume with a dragon’s head. Even though it is very, very different from the Western culture, there are lots of similarities in how important it is and how much people celebrate it.
3. What dishes are prepared for the holiday? Is there food that must be present at the table?
We always meet with extended family and have our meals together over the holiday, but there are so many different foods. For instance, there is something called “nian gao” which is a “New Year cake” or also a sticky rice cake and it is prepared differently in different areas.
4. How do Chinese people celebrate their New Year in the UK? Do you stick to your well-known traditions?
Although it is celebrated in many places around Asia, the Chinese population in the UK is quite large, so the festival is always celebrated by overseas Chinese communities as well. If you go to Chinatown, you will find lots of people celebrating the holiday.
We celebrate it the way we usually would back home except that there are not as many fireworks. Most of our families are back in Asia, so what we usually do here is to gather with friends and have a meal together in a restaurant. But I am lucky this time because my parents are coming round for this New Year. Even though it is in a different location, we still keep the traditions, so we will go to a Chinese restaurant, have New Years’ Eve dinner, eat yam’tcha (dim sum) and share the festival together.
5. Do you give each other presents on the day?
People usually give money and chocolate coins, especially if it is family members. We call them “lai see” or “hong bao” (a red envelope). However, it is only if you are married that you give money which means I cannot give money yet.
The amount of money depends on how close the person is to you, so my granddad always used to give me around £50- £60 but if it is a very distant relative, you might get only £1- £2.
Image Sources
1 – Writer’s own