Chinese New Year round the corner

Chinese New Year is just around the corner and the reb will 'close shop' for a few days to balik kampung (return home) to kampar where my parents and brother and his family stays.

Chinese New Year is the most elaborate and important festival in the Chinese culture. it is celebrated on the first day of the First Moon of the Lunar Calendar. the chinese used the moon to calculate their calendar. CNY is a time for the Chinese to congratulate each other for passing through another year and welcome the arrival of a new year. this coming new chinese year is the year of the rat - the beginning of another cycle in the chinese horoscope.



all Chinese holidays stress the significance of family ties. among all, the Chinese New Year's Eve reunion dinner is the most important family occasion of the year. everybody tries to make the trip home to have the reunion dinner. woe to the sons who miss this auspicious event! of course, not to forget is the lou sang - the chinese dish of raw fish and other delicacies where everyone put in their chopsticks and raise up the food as high as possible. this is to ensure prosperity and long life for the new year ahead.



Often times, a luck character is displayed in Chinese homes and department stores. It is written on red paper with black ink. This character is "Fook" (Fortune), and is hung or posted upside down to symbolize fortune has arrived. (In the Chinese language, the word "Upside down" is a homonym of the word "Arrival").

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