• 15/07/2022
• By binternet
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China: Discovering Chinese New Year<

Happiness, prosperity, longevity or fú lù shòu: three words which brilliantly summarize the grandiose celebration of China.You will quickly understand ... China: to discover the Chinese New Year!

The Chinese New Year famous, like the day of the New Year registered in our Gregorian calendar, the transition to the new year.Nothing but the name awakens the imagination: costumes in striking colors, eccentric patterns, splendid rejoicing, lion head dragons that wind in the streets and millions of flamboyant lanterns in the night.

However, all of this is not a dream.The Chinese New Year is as beautiful, extravagant and extraordinary as you imagine.It is also an opportunity for the Chinese to celebrate the spring that points to his nose.Hence the name of spring festival.The end of winter, the clearer temperatures that settle down, the flowering of the countryside which slowly takes the exceptional step and brightness of the moon that sets up: this low tourist season has a lot to offer.Today, we invite you to the heart of this tradition.Follow our adventure in the Middle Kingdom, in his gay and folk times.

The history of the Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year Iconic Dragon - Photo credit: Shutterstock - Aut Pantian

If today this celebration has largely exceeded the borders of China, few people really know the history of the Chinese New Year.Who is the mysterious iconic dragon?Where does this national enthusiasm come from for the new year?Why all these lights, these symbols, these explosions?

Since the fall of the imperial regime for the benefit of the Republic of China, in 1912, the country has officially adopted the Gregorian calendar.Despite this strategic and political desire to calculate the Western model, the Chinese remain very attached to their lunar calendar.The latter continues to punctuate their years and makes the bridge between present and past.

Suddenly, the Chinese would not miss the New Year's celebration for the world!It is even the essential condition for the progress of a happy new year, far from the old demons of the past and failures.The two weeks following the first day of the year are also placed under the sign of the party, commonly known as Spring Festival.In January and February, a large part of China flirts with freezing temperatures and borders on a snow coat.These fifteen days are therefore an ode to the long -awaited redoux which, in the past, coincided with the return of nourishing agricultural activity.

The day we enter the new year is called the Nian.It takes its name from a legendary creature, the appearance of a bull with a lion's head, wandering on the lands of China.According to legend, this legendary and hybrid monster came out of forests every year during winter nights, to devour the villagers.He staggered just before daybreak.Over the years, the villagers understood that the creature ended its bloody feast at the edge of the day because it feared light, sounds and red.As the fateful date approaches, they therefore used to shelter inside their house, to leave the lights on, to flourish all kinds of red decorations, to drumm on pans and, littleLittle, to explode firecrackers and large fires.

Nowadays, the parades that mark the new year, whose star is this famous Nian, symbolizes the domestication of this demonic animal and the victory of the Chinese on this scourge.

Commonly, each year of the lunar calendar is also placed under the sign of one of the astrological animals which are the rat, the buffalo, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the goat, the monkey, theCoq, dog and pig, as well as an element among water, fire, metal, wood and earth.The sign of the Chinese zodiac is thus defined by their year of birth.

Preparations: the "little" Chinese New Year

The Chinese flock to shops to shop for the New Year - Photo Credit: Shutterstock - Sean Pavone

After this short return to the origins of the New Year, make way for the present story of this celebration of all superlatives.The Generation Voyage teams were suitable, heading for China.

Each year, the Chinese New Year falls between January 21 and February 20 of our Gregorian calendar.Fortunately, the date is known enough in advance for each family to have time to busy preparations.As Christmas Eve approaches, the whole country is won by a particular atmosphere, between impatience and intense affair.

We go for the midst of the middle a week before the real Chinese New Year to celebrate the "little" New Year. During this period, the Chinese seek the good graces of the god of the home by placing food on representations to representationsits effigy.Already, under the winter sun, the red mass is activated.The cities, from the soils to the ceilings, take the color of the hot embers.In the steps of the doors, the dust rises slowly.It comes from the great cleaning to which the Chinese proceed.The inhabitants symbolically scan the bad things of the past to make way for the happiness to come.

Besides, it is better to dust your house now because during the days following the New Year, cleaning your home is bad.This would cost the newly introduced luck in the house from home.The Chinese also take the opportunity to make a beauty because, just like cleaning, it is good not to wash and cut your hair in the days following the New Year.

Then comes the hiding place of dozens of small rolled red papers, to be placed discreetly in the rooms of the house.Family members scrape some wishes for the following year.Tradition also wants families to write a poetic verse on a small red ribbon, to be supervised around their door.This then gives an incredibly photogenic look to the streets: a boon for photograph lovers!

During this week, we are also witnessing a real rush in stores.It must be said that for the occasion and for almost a week, stores close.The Chinese first full of food: dried fruits and candies abound in homes.Then, there is no question of skimp on the Christmas Eve meal which brings together the whole family with the elders.They also buy their red party outfits at unbeatable prices.The most traditionalist will even take the opportunity to renew their wardrobe in order to be ready for the arrival of spring.

The day before the New Year, the houses are carefully decorated.Within families, we feel excitement, trepidation ... but also a discreet feeling of stress.

Party

Nourriture, argent et pétards

New Year's New Year's New Year with Family - Photo Credit: Shutterstock - Liudmila Kotvitckaia

The Christmas Eve meal is a family story.Here, no question if only to dip the lips in a drink until the whole family is united!It is easy to understand why the delays were so poorly come.

Hearty is the watchword: fish symbol of opulence, spring rolls and ravioli symbols of wealth, noodles symbol of longevity and happiness, and Niango (year's cake) symbol of growth.Of course (this is not a legend), we exchange at the end of the meal the traditional luck cookies that contain predictions for the coming year.The oranges and mandarins also surge for dessert.These citrus fruits are considered to be lucky fruit, attracting luck, prosperity and abundance.

Less appetizing, there are also some smelly algae or dried oysters on the table.These dishes that have the smell of "stinking feet" are highly symbolic.If there are ones on your plate, it is impossible to escape it.These foods also mean money and good luck.

During the meal, family members, especially single people, receive red envelopes that contain money.Besides, the days following Christmas Eve, it is customary to bring this same kind of gift to children and unmarried people from families that we visit.Some receive up to the equivalent of 1,000 euros in an evening!Be careful however: never offer a sum that includes a 4!This figure, which is pronounced as the word dead in Chinese, is abhorred in the country.A bit nostalgic, we will still see that this tradition of paper has gradually given way to electronic brokes.One thing is certain: money has a central place in China.In Asian culture, fortune is as important as health.

At the end of the meal, at a time when the stomachs hardly start digestion and sound the twelve stroke of midnight, the firecrackers and Bengal lights explode in the streets.A spectacle given to heart by children, but more and more supervised because of multiple accidents.

Insomnies, prières matinales et tour des maisons

Sky temple, Beijing, China - Photo credit: Shutterstock - Sean Pavone

If we can easily laugh at our white nights to feast, bedtime is taken very seriously among the Chinese.Here, it is to the one who will set as the latest as possible because the less we sleep that night, the more we extend our life!Games and screens are in order to keep the spirits awake.Besides, a pharaonic show is given that evening on TV.Audiences explode the global meters, even more than the American Super Bowl!Popular singers, humorists, representations of ethnic minorities and communist propaganda against a background of music resound in cottages.

Despite the cruel lack of sleep and the body a little badly led by the Saké, the first morning of the new year must take place at the temple.Everyone must arrive early in order to promote luck for the starting year.Some temples in China even open at midnight and others are taken by storm at the point of a real morning rush.In the middle of the alleys, the smoke of the thousands of incense sticks brandished by the crowd zigzague in the sky.Young and old, adorned with shimmering clothes, kneel and mumble prayers.

Et ça continue, encore et encore

The second day, couples and children also go to the mother's family.The red color always dominates, giving rise to a real red ant broom which circulates throughout China.

The following days are devoted to all kinds of celebrations to the gods of wealth, heaven, etc.And we also dance.In particular the lion dance.This traditional dance practiced during the New Year's period also takes place during weddings and other important events.Two dancers lock themselves in a lion costume, their four legs representing four legs, and sway with amazing technicality and skill.This practice from martial arts, which brings luck and keeps bad spirits away, also recalls the legend of the Nian (or Nianshou).

At the end of the fifth day, stores reopens their doors.Finally, the spring festival extends over no less than two weeks, and the end of the festivities is marked by the essential lanterns festival.

La fête des lanternes

Lanter Festival in China - Photo credit: Shutterstock - Apiguide

This is probably the peak of the festivities around the Chinese New Year.Few shows compete in terms of magnificence.For centuries, these lanterns igniting the sky were in the effigy of various mythological characters.Today, it is rather the faces of the new characters of the cartoons that rise in the night.Then, the modern era gave way to bright tanks.What a show!

Question food is an opportunity to taste all kinds of stuffed soups and dumplings of rice paste: a family and generous recipe that has largely exceeded Chinese borders.

Le Nouvel An chinois à travers le monde

Temple of Thean Hou illuminated for the Chinese New Year Day, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - Photo Credit: Shutterstock - Travelpixs

This celebration synonymous with vacation, gatherings, traditions and culture has seduced countries around the world.Today, although the charm on site is incomparable, you can completely celebrate the Chinese New Year outside the Middle Empire.

All around the Republic of China, countries like Taiwan and the two regions of the People's Republic of China (Hong Kong and Macao) do not ignore this ancestral celebration.In Singapore, Malaysia, the Philippines, the Brunei, Indonesia, South Korea and even in Thailand, the inhabitants are unemployed for the occasion and are having a great time.It must be said that all these states are largely influenced by Chinese culture.

Finally, know that the Chinese diaspora has even won Europe and France.From Paris to Lyon via other provincial cities, this is an opportunity to travel at the foot of home.

Where to live your first New Year in China?

Hong Kong parade

Fireworks in Hong Kong-Photo credit: Shutterstock-Krunja

Breathtaking fireworks, tanks with cyclopean dimensions, thousands of doors set with lanterns, incense at the gates of temples, phantasmagorical shows: this is one of the most prestigious New Year celebrations in the country.In Hong Kong, tradition wants us to also offer flowers for the New Year. The best place to find it?On the traditional markets that swarm people and experiences for the senses.

Shangaï illumine

The Longhua temple in Shanghai, China - Photo credit: Shutterstock - Itzavu

It is undoubtedly at the heart of this pearl of the Empire in the middle that you will live the most beautiful festival of the lanterns.The city, under the spotlight, offers an exceptional moment in the Yuyuan garden.If there is an maddening quantity of traditional lanterns, there are also many lights combining ancestral art and modern technology.Here too, it is to put off bouquets and plants in pots.To attend religious celebrations, go to the Longhua temple.Dances and songs resonate in the place for more than a week.Everywhere in town, the pyrotechnic wars go very good heart but it is probably on the bund that the show is the most incredible.

Pékin représente

China Wall - Photo credit: Shutterstock - Zhanglianxun

The one we call the Forbidden City opens the arms of travelers and Beijing in search of a monumental party.The capital gives pride of place, like nowhere else, with multiple representations: Dragon dances, lion dances, imperial plays, fireworks from the Chinese wall: it is a real whirlwind of sounds, colors, colors,Odors and flavors for fifteen days.But in Beijing, the rosaries of firecrackers to keep bad luck away are prohibited in the streets.

La campagne perpétue

Fireworks for Chinese New Year - Photo Credit: Shutterstock - Sonpichit Salangsing

In Chinese countryside, party and animation are in full swing.In particular thanks to the migratory flows that take place throughout the festivities.The reunion here have something even more poignant.The celebrations have this delicious touch of authenticity.Hospitality is queen and it is undoubtedly the place of predilection for a Chinese New Year under the sign of simplicity, sharing and love.It is also far from the big cities that you can attend real flights of firecrackers and fireworks drawn by the inhabitants.Where, logically, security and environmental issues pose fewer problems.

National and large -scale holiday requires, the Chinese New Year rhymes with overpopulation on the roads, in stations and airports.It is even the greatest human transhumance in the world.So remember to book well in advance and take your pain in patience if you embark on a traveling trip during this period.

What you don't know about the Chinese New Year

The famous red envelopes full of money, offered for Chinese New Year - Photo credit: Shutterstock - Nokkaew

Le célibat : entre honte et agacement

As you can see, the family dimension is as important as the religious and festive dimensions.So much so that some Chinese resorts to the services of a false boyfriend or a false girlfriend in order to spend the new year with the family and without incident.Even if their celibacy allows them to receive en masse the famous red envelopes full of money.Indeed, while couples live a moment of intense joy, the Tanguy of celibacy (after 32 years for men and after 30 years for women) suffer the mockery of their peers and the sermons of their parents.To rent a "soul mate" to spend the holidays, you had to dare!

Acheter le silence du concierge

The concierges receive a lot of red envelopes ... why?These buildings of buildings who have their ears and eyes everywhere generally know all the secrets of the inhabitants.Even the most unspeakable.It is therefore common to slide a little money to your concierge when you have a secret to keep warm ...

Des dizaines de tabous autour du Nouvel An

We told you, we don't wash our hair and we don't go by the broom, but what are the other Chinese New Year taboos?

Festival de curiosités, de sensations et de dépaysement, la découverte du Nouvel An chinois laisse un souvenir mémorable. L’an prochain, il aura lieu le mardi 1^er février 2022. Une année du Tigre, placée sous l’élément de l’Eau. Pourquoi ne pas fouler l’Empire du Milieu à cette date ?