Welcoming New Year In Asia With Ancient Traditions
find out about the various customs which are celebrated by reviving them during Chinese New Year.
The Chinese people hold on to their age old traditions with their molar teeth. As a society the people of China take a lot of pride in their culture and tradition and have made all possible efforts to uphold their sanctity by keeping them alive at regular intervals.
The Chinese New Year is a time when you manage to see Chinese traditions in full bloom. A hub of traditional activity explodes onto the scene during the first few weeks of the Chinese New Year. The Chinese have a complete set of beliefs and traditional practices with regards to the welcoming of a new year. One can pretty much see how profoundly the age old traditions are embedded in the Chinese culture by looking at all the traditional practices that are brought into light during New Year celebrations.
There is however another motive why China has kept these ancient traditions alive. With the explosion of the mass media the country knows how intrigued the rest of the world is by their mysterious culture. Hence they try to cash in on their ancient traditions by keeping them alive so that they can attract lots of tourists and hence develop a thriving tourism industry.
The New Year celebrations once they commence carry on for next fifteen days. In fact the celebrations start one two days previous to the New Year. If you are eager to do business in China this is a good time as people love to spend a lot as they are so happy.
The house cleaning ritual is part and parcel of New Year tradition. Chinese homes take a new look and everything becomes shining and clean. All this is intended to drive away the misfortune of the previous year and make the house pure for New Year.
Doors and windows are painted red as per tradition. Red is the color of New Year in China. The traditional belief is that it wards away all sorts of evil spirits and omens and keeps the house safe from any harm.
The New Year is the time when the Chinese decorate their homes with various objects which have traditional significance. Things like couplets and paper cuttings are supposed to bring prosperity and happiness. They have various other things like paintings, scrolls and wall paper designs as a part of their decorative items.
The New Years Eve holds a special connotation in Chinese culture. This day all the family members come together in one place for supper. A special dish is made for this meal which is known as jiaozi which has dumpling in the boiling water.
Playing games and watching televisions are few activities that the Chinese enjoy in on the New Years Eve. They watch special programs all night long on the television to keep awake. They also keep the lights on the whole night as they believe that doing so their parents will receive long and healthy life.
The New Year day starts with various interesting activities like exchanging presents and greetings, lantern parade, Kung fu, concerts and so on. These festivities are carried on for full two weeks. At the end of the fifteenth day they have the fireworks and dragon dance which brings an end to the celebrations on a full moon night.
The Chinese new year rat is an intelligent animal that conjures up very different connotations in the eastern mind. If you want to learn more about Chinese new year traditions follow the hyperlinks.
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