A CHINESE NEW YEAR EXPERIENCE

I have to admit that I already went to Chinatown or Binondo countless times because whenever we have family reunions, we always go there to eat at their restaurants. We are really fond of Chinese cuisines. My mother is half Chinese so she loves Chinese food. Nevertheless, my grandparents on my father side love the food all the same. Since everybody loves food, that was what I first checked. The common Chinese foods at Chinese New Year are: 

FOOD

     

     Chicken or ji. This must be served ‘whole’ or with the head and the feet still attached because it signifies completeness. They believe that it means unison and good marriage between families. 

  Spring rolls or chun juan. The golden color of the fried spring rolls represent gold bars which, of course, symbolizes wealth. 

         

    Fruits or shui guo. New Year will never be complete without round fruits on the table. Even we, Filipinos believe that these connotes wealth. In Chinese beliefs, these round fruits means life and new beginnings.

   Long noodles or mian tiao. I saw their noodles were served uncut because as we all know, noodles signifies longevity or long life.

      Dumplings or jiao zhi. I was told that they believe the more dumplings you eat during New Year celebration, the more money you can make in the upcoming cycle because it is shaped like an ingot, which symbolizes wealth. Families traditionally spend New Year's Eve preparing the dumplings and will eat them at midnight. Sometimes, a coin is hidden in one dumpling, and the person who will find it is supposed to be showered with good fortune and wealth.

Fish or yu. Most Chinese families order whole fish at restaurants because they believe that it connotes unity. Also, I found out that it is important for them to leave leftovers for the next day since it will signifies that prosperity will overflow.

     

   Tikoy or nian gao. They believe that it means increasing prosperity year after year. It also means safety, good fortune and their “sweetener” of the year.

    

    PLACE, BELIEFS, PRACTICES AND TRADITIONS

 The place was so crowded that I had a hard time breathing. With all the people there walking and the vendors on each side of the street but I felt great being there. I smelled good vibes hung in the air. I saw people carrying stuff that they think they need to have before the Chinese New Year starts. Or some still buying goods and charms.

Speaking of charms, I saw a lot of establishment selling different kinds of it. They believe that it was for good luck, feng shui. I was told that it was to boost different type of things in our life like wealth, career, money, love, health, family and a lot more. They say it we need to have these good luck charms to avoid or weaken the bad vibes and strengthen the good vibes in our home, office or garden. I saw a lot of laughing Buddha which sometimes called as the Happy Buddha. It has round belly and big smile. It is a symbol of good luck, abundance, and prosperity. Also, there were a lot of dragons, of course. They’re everywhere! But the two most common color I saw was green and gold. I asked different vendors about the dissimilarity between the two colors, then the vendors said that the green one means growing, striving, balancing, calming, healing, self-assurance, generosity, health, harmony, sensitivity, and patience. On the other hand, the gold means completeness, wealth, wisdom and God consciousness.

As dragons were everywhere, red envelopes, which we all know as Ang Pao, were also all over the place. A lot of vendors were selling this stuff. They said that it symbolizes blessings, good fortune and prosperity. As I was told, Chinese Filipinos exchange Ang Pao in exactly 12mn, the start of Chinese New Year. 

As I was walking, I kept on seeing Chinese lanterns above me and I was so fascinated. I love it. It was like a big, red snowball when I looked up. The most common Chinese lanterns I saw were red, oval shape, and decorated with red or golden tassels. Since I was with my uncle when I went to Binondo, I was told that Chinese lanterns have a lengthy history and it has riddled with mystery. He said that before, these lanterns have riddles and the one who can answer that will have a prize. He also told me that in Chinese culture, an uncle must buy his nephew (must be under 12 years of age) a lantern before the festival because the red lanterns are the best wishes of uncles to their nephews. 

I enjoyed watching the lion and the dragon dance. They went from one establishment to the other. I guess the difference between the two were that the lion dance needed only two people and I found out that the steps are considered martial arts. It’s harder to dance than the dragon dance. On the other hand, the dragon dance needs 10 people to lift and dance the dragon. It obviously longer and needed more space. 

PEOPLE, TEMPLES

As New Year is mostly celebrated with great noise from fireworks or anything that can cause explosion of noise, some people like my uncle opted to just go to temples. These are the temples he visited when he stayed in China last year for the New Year.