Kung Hei Fat Choi – See What’s In Store For You For 2010
On Sunday, February 14, 2010, is Chinese New Year. This year will be the Year Of The Tiger.
Traditions
One of the traditions during Chinese New Year is the giving of red envelopes and red packets called “Ang Pow”. These Ang Pows are usually are passed out during the Chinese New Year’s celebrations, from married couples or the elderly to unmarried juniors. Red packets almost always contain money, usually varying from a couple of dollars to several hundred. Customarily, the amount of money in the red packets should be of even numbers. The number 8 is considered lucky (for its homophone for “wealth”), and $8 is commonly found in red envelopes in the US.
In addition to red envelopes, which are usually given from elder to younger during the Chinese New Year, small gifts (usually of food or sweets) are also exchanged between friends or relatives. Gifts are usually brought when visiting friends or relatives at their homes. Common gifts include fruits (typically oranges, and never pears), chocolates, biscuits, candies, cakes, or some other small gift.
Furthermore, one of the traditions in the Chinese New Year celebrations are fireworks. The Chinese believed that using these firecrackers will drive away evil spirits from the nearby surroundings and will bring luck. In terms of clothing, the color red is commonly worn throughout the Chinese New Year because it is believed that red will scare away evil spirits and bad fortune. In addition, people typically wear new clothes from head to toe to symbolize a new beginning in the new year. Wearing new clothes also symbolizes having more than enough things to use and wear in the new year.
What’s in store for you?
So what’s in store for you in this Chinese New Year 2010 which is the Year of the Tiger? According to Chinese, the animal Tiger is said to be lively, vivid, engaging and lucky. Another attribute of the Tiger is his/her incredible bravery, evidenced in his willingness to engage in battle or their undying courage. The Chinese say a Tiger having a Tiger in the house is the very best protection against the evils of burglary, arson or fire.
Advance Happy Chinese New Year this coming February 14, 2010 from all of us at Chen’s Acupuncture in Seattle/Bellevue, WA!
Source: Showbiz Gossips
(Image courtesy of malias, Flickr under the creative commons license)
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