In China and many other Asian communities in the world, the Lunar New Year is the most important and most festive holiday of the whole year. Family members would reunite with their loved ones with great celebratory flourish. It is also commonly referred to as the “Spring Festival” in China, showing that a new Spring is coming. Family traditions of welcoming the Lunar New Year include making and eating dumplings, having a big dinner, setting off fireworks, visiting relatives, children receiving “lucky money” from the elders, and so on.
However, Chinese students who study abroad at UCSB can’t go back home and celebrate the New Year with family. How did they enjoy their time in a foreign country? I asked four Chinese students to find the answer to this question: Econ & Accounting major Binghua Zhang (’23) from the city of Anyang, Henan Province; Sociology major Ruohan Li (’23) from the city of Qingdao, Shandong Province living in Beijing; Math major Wangkaiti Chen (’24) from the city of Xi’an, Shanxi Province living in Beijing; and Mechanical Engineering major Haotong Han (’23) from the city of Dezhou, Shandong Province living in Beijing. Let’s see what they had to say.
Q1: How do you always celebrate the lunar new year at home? What are your family traditions? Your favorite part of these activities?
Binghua Zhang: I always have a family dinner on New Year’s Eve and make dumplings. One special dinner tradition is that we would leave a part of the fish and some dumplings for the next day’s breakfast (which is the New Year’s day breakfast), which means “more than sufficient every year.”
Ruohan Li: During the Spring Festival, my family always goes back to our hometown, Qingdao, and celebrates the Lunar New Year with my grandparents. We always decorate our home with beautiful red paper cuttings and the whole family always wears red clothes, which is one of the symbols of good fortune.
Wangkaiti Chen: During this New Year, my parents and I always go back to Xi’an to have a family reunion with our grandparents and other relatives. We watch the Spring Festival Gala together, which nearly all Chinese do on New Year’s Eve. We always have a really nice dinner and my parents and relatives send out red envelopes (lucky money) to me and also other young people at home, which represents the elders’ best wishes for their kids.
Haotong Han: I always make dumplings and other dishes with my family, and sometimes we travel to warmer regions of China (I live in Beijing and it’s quite cold during winter). We always reunite with our bigger family, which consists of around 20 people. Honestly, it makes me really happy to see my cousins growing up. Visiting the places of interest in Beijing with my family, such as the Tian An Men Square, is my favorite part of these activities since it helps me embrace the traditions in my own culture.
Q2: How did you celebrate this past lunar new year? Any activities with friends? Did you do anything meaningful to you?
Binghua Zhang: I had dinner with friends, made dumplings, and watched the Spring Festival Gala together.
Ruohan Li: This past Spring Festival, I celebrated it with my boyfriend and roommates. We made a great dinner and dumplings together. Also, we cleaned the house on the day before the Spring Festival to welcome the New Year.
Wangkaiti Chen: My friends and I got together and we ordered lots of Chinese dishes. We listened to Chinese traditional music that was usually played during the Spring Festival, such as “Hao Yun Lai (Good Fortune is Coming).” We also climbed mountains around Santa Barbara and enjoyed looking at the stars together.
Haotong Han: Due to the surge of Covid-19, my friends and I chose to stay at home and enjoyed hotpot together. We made our New Year goals and decided to work harder for the upcoming year.
Q3: As you study abroad, Is there anything you want to say to your parents/family/friends this new year? Any new year wishes?
Binghua Zhang: Take care~
Ruohan Li: Best wishes to everyone and stay safe :)
Wangkaiti Chen: Wish you all the luck and be safe. I miss you so much.
Haotong Han: I hope you stay healthy and happy throughout the year of Tiger!
Although Chinese students couldn’t reunite with their families during the lunar new year, they still enjoyed this important festival in their culture as they did many interesting activities with their friends abroad, such as eating a big meal and making dumplings. Many of them also had a video call with their parents and relatives to pass on their good wishes for the new year and express their homesickness.