Chinese New Year or Spring Festival (as many locals refer to it) is the most celebrated holiday in China. The celebration goes on for 15 days! Family reunions are plentiful and children are given almost a month off to celebrate. I was very curious to learn more about the customs and traditions of this celebration because I kept hearing things like you can't sweep or women get new hair do's for the month and I had to find out if these things were all true!!
Here are some of the traditions I found out are indeed true (although a bit peculiar if you ask me!!)...
Do not sweep on New Year's Day because good fortune will be swept away. (Trust me, especially in Tianjin, a day without sweeping can cause a lot of dirt to build up!)
At midnight all doors and windows must be opened to allow the old year out!
One should not wash their hair on New Year's Day or it will wash away good luck.
Do not use knives or scissors on New Year's Day or it may cut off your fortune.
Eat lots of tangerines - they are a sign of good health and long life.
This last bit has to do with the fireworks (that were keeping me up before we left) and red decorations that are everywhere you look right now!! Ellie actually watched a movie about this on the same day that I did some research, so this must be a well known story!! So there once was a sea monster named Nian that would come and destroy the people - the only two things that would keep him away were loud noises and the color red. This is why on New Year's Eve fireworks go off nonstop and everyone has red decorations on their doors, windows, etc!!
There are many more traditions that I am missing, like wearing red panties and a bra if it is "your" year (my friend Sharon shared this one with me!!), but these were the ones I have confronted and been told about this year! I'm sure next year we will see and hear many other traditions that we can share with you!!
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