Spring Festival: The Biggest Chinese New Year Celebration

Introduction :

If you have been to your city’s Chinatown, you must notice that at a specific time of the year, it becomes more vibrant. The streets are filled with decorations and people march on parade. Well, this is called the Spring Festival, a traditional Chinese festival held annually to celebrate the Chinese New Year. We suggest that you go see the festival because this festival will definitely bring a new perspective to your life.

Part 1: What is the Spring Festival?

The Spring Festival refers to the Chinese Spring Festival or Chinese Lunar New Year. It is a common and widely celebrated tradition among the people of China and its diaspora. The celebration is almost like Christmas, families and friends gather, good food is served on the table, gifts (or money) are exchanged, it is the most beautiful time of the year for the Chinese community. Unlike the western Gregorian calendar, the Chinese Lunar Calendar uses a lunisolar system. It tracks the position of the sun, as well as the moon, to determine the dates.

Due to its lunisolar calendar, the Spring Festival date varies each year. Although it typically takes place between January 21 and February 20. The Lunar New Year Spring Festival lasts for 15 days. During these days, the Chinese community has several customs and traditions that date back thousands of years. They honor their ancestors, pray to their gods, and visit their closest families.

In modern days, the Spring Festival 2023 celebration still attains its traditional roots, with a blend of modern touch. For example, you would see bright red lanterns on the streets of Chinatown, but they use the more efficient lamp, rather than real fire.

Part 2: Chinese Spring Festival Traditions

There are many traditions that you can find during the Spring Festival. Here are some of the most common customs and traditions that you might come across:

●  Bright Red Decorations

The Chinese love the color red. Red lanterns, red dresses, red envelopes, and red paintings. This is mainly because, according to the Chinese tradition, red symbolizes good luck, joy, and prosperity. The color red also drives off bad luck. Since this is a new year for the Chinese community, they would want to start the year with all these hopes, while wishing that the new year will be a good year for them.

●  Lucky Money Envelopes

They are essential for the Spring Festival celebration. The envelopes are filled with money, usually crisp, new bills. These envelopes are then given to families and relatives as holiday presents. On New Year’s Eve, parents customarily place two mandarin oranges and a red envelope by their child’s bedside. Married couples bring red envelopes for the younger, single family members during holidays. In many respects, the Lucky Money custom represents maturing into adulthood and being willing to share one’s wealth.

●  Reunion Dinner

One of the most important parts of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration is the Reunion Dinner. The family gathers on the new year’s eve and they will enjoy a banquet that symbolizes the unity of the family. The meals are chosen not only for their taste, but also for what they symbolize. For example, the most common food served on the new year’s eve is dumpling, or “jiaozi” which literally means wealth.

●  Lion Dance

The Chinese believe that the lion is a fortunate animal. It symbolizes power, wisdom and greatness. Much like the western world that believes the lion is the king of the jungle. The lion dance is a Chinese dance that is performed for good luck on significant occasions like the Spring Festival. There is also the dragon dance, which is usually performed alongside the lion dance.

●  Lantern Festival

To mark the end and the climax of the Spring Festival, people gather on a field with paper lanterns that are ready to fly. It is a symbol of hope, peace, and forgiveness. Since the lanterns are let go, it might also symbolize the act of letting go of the bad things in the past.

●  Fireworks

On the evening of the Chinese Lunar New Year, fireworks will be lit and launched. They will paint the sky with bright and beautiful colors. In fact, this tradition has been going on for thousands of years in China. The fireworks are believed to ward off evil and bring good luck to the people in the upcoming year. People also believe that the first person who launches the fireworks after midnight will have good luck.

Part 3: Spring Festival in Different Countries

Although the Chinese community celebrates the Chinese New Year all over the world, there might be a slight variation in how the festivals are celebrated. Here are some of the most well known countries that you can visit if you want to experience a different kind of Spring Festival:

●  China

Chinese New Year is one of the most important holidays in China. People of China enjoy a week off to celebrate it. Chinese elders give Lucky Envelopes to younger people and a barrage of firecrackers will be lit by a mass of people after midnight. The Chinese also like to visit temples to pray during the holiday.

●  Indonesia

Almost every city in Indonesia has a place for the Chinese community, but the most vibrant cities when it comes to the Chinese New Year celebration are Jakarta, Surabaya, Surakarta, and Semarang. These cities will be filled with bright red lanterns and the lion dance will be performed on the day of new year. The lion dance here is called “barongsai”.

●  Singapore

Singapore is one of the countries that has the biggest percentage of Chinese ethnicity. The streets will be filled with brilliant decorations and lively parades, such as the Chingay Parade, which features a blend of Singapore multicultural background.

●  United States

Vibrant Chinese New Year parades are held in Chinatowns across America, most notably in New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Seattle. The celebration features lion dances, martial arts performances and food festivals.

FAQs about Main keyword

Q1: Is the Spring Festival Held annually?

Answer: Yes, the Spring Festival is an annual celebration, just like the New Year or Christmas.

Q2: Is it okay for non-Chinese to come and see the celebration?

Answer: It is completely okay for non-Chinese to join the celebration. You can see the lion dances, firework shows, and join the lantern festival. Some activities require you to pay a certain amount of fee for entry.

Q3: What kind of food is sold during this festival?

Answer: Every region has some kind of variations when it comes to the food served and sold, but the most common are dumplings, chickens, fish, and pork.

Summary

Spring Festival is an annual celebration that signifies the start of a new year cycle according to Chinese tradition. Families and friends gather and enjoy their meal on the new year’s eve. Since the Chinese believe that the color red is a sign of good luck, their houses and the streets will be decorated red. The Spring Festival falls on a different day every year because of its lunisolar calendar. Even so, usually it happens between January 21 and February 20. The Spring Festival of the Lunar New Year lasts for fifteen days. The Chinese community has a number of customs and traditions that go back thousands of years that are observed today. They pay respect to their gods, honor their ancestors, and spend time with their nearest relatives.