Other foods symbolize prosperity, abundance and good luck. Foods made from glutinous rice are commonly eaten, as these foods represent togetherness. Some households hold rituals to offer food and paper icons to ancestors. Others post red paper and banners inscribed with calligraphy messages of good health and fortune in front of, and inside, homes. Elders give out envelopes containing money to children. Cleaning is also meant to open space for good will and good luck. In preparation for the Lunar New Year, houses are thoroughly cleaned to rid them of inauspicious spirits, which might have collected during the old year. (Vietnam and China share 10 of the zodiac calendar’s 12 signs, but the Vietnamese honor the cat instead of the rabbit, and the buffalo instead of the ox.) Lunar New Year Foods and TraditionsĮach culture celebrates the Lunar New Year differently with various foods and traditions that symbolize prosperity, abundance and togetherness. The year of the rabbit last came up in 2011. The year 2023 is slated to be the year of the rabbit. Each year is associated with an animal that corresponds to an element.

In addition to the animals, five elements of earth, water, fire, wood and metal are also mapped onto the traditional lunar calendar. The 12 zodiac animals are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. Hong Kong Disneyland and all the other theme parks multiply the festivities and make the holiday a wonderful time for the young and young at heart.Each year in the Lunar calendar is represented by one of 12 zodiac animals included in the cycle of 12 stations or “signs” along the apparent path of the sun through the cosmos. The higher it holds in the tree, the better the chance that the wish will come true. Those wanting to make a wish tie a note to a piece of string that is tied to an orange then throw it high into the tree. Along with orange and hong bao trees, people buy kumquat bonsai trees in the hope these will bring prosperity over the rest of the year.įor more good luck, there is a Wishing Tree at Lam Tsuen. Souvenir and shopping markets highlight every part of Hong Kong with flower markets everywhere that sell more than orchids and other flowers. Every year around 100,000 worshippers come to Che Kung to beat the drum for good luck and to worship. On the second day of the Lunar New Year, a member of the Hong Kong government attends the Che Kung Temple at Sha Tin where Hong Kong’s luck for the year is foretold in the form of ancient Chinese poetry. The harbour front at Tsim Sha Tsui is vibrant with the International Chinese New Year Night Parade with Chinese and international performers exciting the atmosphere of Hong Kong. In the evening on Victoria Harbour, the sky, water and city lights up with nearly half-an-hour of over twenty thousand fireworks that colour the land that invented them. It is a time for massive festivities, temple rituals, fortune telling, family gatherings and the exchanging of gifts.

The holiday celebrates the start of the New Year according to the Chinese calendar, and falls in January or February according to the Gregorian calendar.Ĭhinese communities around the world, and particularly in Hong Kong, come alive with colour, fragrance, music and celebrations over the holiday.

Unofficially, it is celebrated for up to two weeks. Lunar New Year runs officially for three days, and even four if the holiday coincides with a Sunday.

2021 lunar new year