Chinese New Year Traditions

9 Days Before CNY

January 12, 2023

Making Paper-Cuts | 剪窗花

Let’s begin with a beautiful Chinese tradition — the art of paper cutting. Paper-cuts are often used to decorate doors & windows, so they are sometimes referred to as “window flowers”, 窗花 (chuānghuā).

They symbolize luck & happiness ✨

The verb “to cut” in Chinese is 剪 (jiǎn), so the activity is called:

剪窗花 (jiǎn chuānghuā) • to make papercuts ✂️

If you make your own papercut design, you can glue it to the exterior of your window, so the light from the inside can shine through the negative space of the cutout.

You can choose to make a character paper cut, or a symmetrical pattern. In case with symmetrical patterns, the cut outs are usually in an even number series: 2, 4, 24, etc.

The most popular characters are:
福 (fú) • luck
囍 (xǐ) • double happiness
春 (chūn) • spring
财 (cái) • wealth

It’s best to use red paper 🔴, as the red color symbolizes festivities and happiness.

7-8 Days Before CNY

January 14-15, 2023

“Little” Chinese New Year | 小年

This day is called 小年 (Xiǎonián) – the Little New Year!

It marks the beginning of Chinese New Year preparations. So starting from this day, things officially get festive 🎆

Xiǎonián doesn’t have a fixed date, and people in different parts of China have different customs: people in the south celebrate it on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month, and in the north – on the 24th day.

Now, Xiǎonián is all about worshiping the Kitchen God. He also has different names in Chinese: 灶神 (zàoshén), 灶王爷 (zàowángyé), etc. The Kitchen God lives in the household all year long, and collects information about the family’s “good” and “bad” deeds by storing them into two jars: the “good” jar (善罐 shànguàn), and the “bad” jar (恶罐 ěguàn). And today, he’s supposed to go “upstairs” to the Jade Emperor (玉帝 Yùdì) and make an annual report!

And guess what? People don’t want the Kitchen God to do it. So they came up with various ways to stop him!

One way to stop him is by treating him with a sweet candy called 糖瓜 (tángguā), “Sweet Melon” (because its shape resembles a melon). This candy is very hard and crispy (see our Story!), but once you put it in your mouth, it melts and becomes sticky – so sticky that the Kitchen God can’t open his mouth anymore. And if he can’t speak, then he can’t make his report!

Another way is by getting him drunk, and making him forget that he wanted to make this report (打小报告 dǎ xiǎobàogào) in the first place.

And finally, one more way is to throw away (or even burn) the picture of the Kitchen God that was hanging on the kitchen wall all year. This way he won’t be able to get to the Jade Emperor. And a new picture can be placed on the wall on New Year’s Day ✨

6-7 Days Before CNY

January 15-16, 2023

Cleaning the House | 扫尘

With less than a week left until the New Year, this day is special. It’s called 扫尘日 (Sǎochén rì) – “Sweeping-Dust-Day”!

Starting from this day until the New Year’s Eve, it’s the right time to clean your house thoroughly: sweep the dust, mop the floors, get rid of any spider webs 🕸️ in remote corners, wash your clothes, curtains, etc etc 🧹

But it’s not only about ‘physical’ cleaning. You should also try to get rid of all the excessive and old things that you’ve accumulated during the year.
Old clothes? Donate or throw them away 👋
Useless home appliances? Same👋
No space on your computer? Delete the old files 🦾

By getting rid of old things, you will make room for the new energy in the new year ✨

旧的不去，新的不来
Jiù de bù qù, xīn de bù lái
(If) the old things don’t go, the new things won’t come 

Note: if you are busy today with work or studies, cleaning tomorrow is fine too! All the way until New Year day.

Be careful though and DO NOT clean during the first two days of the New Year (next Friday & Saturday), not to ‘sweep away’ good luck 💨

4 Days Before CNY

January 18, 2023

Doing the New Year Shopping | 办年货

Buying new things before the Chinese New Year’s eve is another popular tradition. It’s not just about saving money with CNY sales; it’s about buying new things to treat your family – and start the New Year in abundance!

So what’s exactly 年货 (niánhuò)?

Literally, it can be translated as “special New Year purchases”.

But in practice, it’s anything and everything you can think of:

😋 吃的 chī de (things to eat),
🧹 用的 yòng de (things to use),
👗 穿的 chuān de (clothes to wear),
🧤 戴的 dài de (accessories to wear),
🚂 耍的 shuǎ de (toys to play with),
🪔 供的 gòng de (offerings to ancestors),
🥜 干的 gān de (dry snacks),
🐟 鲜的 xiān de (fresh food),
🥩 生的 shēng de (raw food),
🍲 熟的 shú de (cooked food),
etc, etc!

 

 These days life is much easier. There’s no need to go to the (super)markets, as most of the shopping can be done online. It’s also very easy to buy things for parents or relatives far away, in their hometowns! The most popular items are always food and snacks for family reunion dinner (团圆饭 tuányuánfàn), new year decorations (新春装饰 xīnchūn zhuāngshì), new clothes (新衣服 xīn yīfu), and gifts for relatives (走亲戚用的礼品 zǒu qīnqi yòng de lǐpǐn).

You might be thinking – what a waste! Only a few days ago it was all about throwing things away, and now we’re supposed to buy new. But this tradition actually comes back to the days when food and clothes weren’t so readily available. For ordinary people (老百姓 lǎobǎixìng) the Spring festival was once-in-a-year chance to enjoy a delicious feast and buy new clothes.

3 Days Before CNY

January 19, 2023

Going to a Bathhouse | 洗福禄

With only 3 days left before the CNY, everyone’s houses are already clean, the new clothes are ready — so it’s time to take good care of the “body”. And what’s better than having a good bath, preferably in a bathhouse?

洗福禄 (xǐ fúlù) literally means “to wash good fortune”, and it refers to welcoming in the New Year by “cleaning” yourself from bad luck, misfortune, and disease. It’s also important because bathing and hair-washing are not recommended on the first day of the New Year!

It might not be easy to find a bath in modern day & age (so many people have showers only), but it’s a good excuse to visit a bathhouse 🛁

And on this day, a trending hashtag on Weibo is usually:
你“#洗福禄#”了吗?
Nǐ xǐ fúlù le ma?

2 Days Before CNY

January 20, 2023

Making Spring Festival Couplets | 春联儿

Only 2 days left till the New Year! It’s time to decorate your house and create a festive atmosphere, mainly with red color 🧧♦️

There are many different items you could use, such as lanterns or paper cuts, but let’s look at the most interesting type of decoration — Spring Festival couplets, or 春联 (chūnliánr).

Traditionally, 春联 (chūnliánr) are two lines of vertical text written in black ink on red paper and pasted on both sides of the door + one horizontal line at the top. The text includes New Year wishes or something you’d like to have more of in the New Year: wealth, luck, success, peace ✨

But these days, there are lots of “modern versions” of 春联 (chūnliánr) available to buy online. You can choose fun text instead of traditional poems, for example, “I’d like to stay slim in the New Year — and be able to order a large-size milk tea without regret”. It’s also not only about doors anymore. You can paste 春联 (chūnliánr) on your computer, phone, fridge – anywhere you like!

What’s one thing you’d like to have more of in 2021?
What would your 春联 (chūnliánr) be about?

1 Day Before CNY

January 21, 2023

除夕 (Chúxī)

Chinese New Year’s Eve

This day is the first day of the official holidays in China. Many shops close down completely or stay open for half a day, so that people could rush home to their families and prepare 年夜饭 (niányèfàn) – family reunion dinner. It is believed to be the most important meal of the year ✨

So tonight is the night when people usually share dinner with their loved ones, watch the CCTV New Year Gala (春晚, chūnwǎn) on TV, and stay up late to meet the new year (守岁 shǒsuì). It’s common to cook A LOT of food, including chicken and fish for good luck, and eat it all the way until Day 4! (According to some traditions, it’s not allowed to cook on the first few days of the New Year.)

But this year, not everyone was able to travel home to their hometowns to enjoy a big reunion dinner. Many people stayed in the cities they work in. And many had to cook the reunion dinner on their own for the first time – away from their parents and grandparents who usually do it! So many recipes & dish lists have been traveling around Wechat this week 😄

Is there a similar tradition in your country, to have a family dinner together? Which holiday is it for?

Day 1 of the New Year

初一 (Chūyī)

January 22, 2023

Chinese New Year’s Day

The Year of the Tiger is here!

😴 If the previous night was full of celebration, on the New Year’s day, there won’t be much going on. People usually get up late and spend time with family.

🧧 And on this day, it’s quite common to exchange 红包 (hóngbāo) – red packets! They can be “physical” red envelopes with cash, but nowadays, most of 红包-s are exchanged “digitally” on Wechat.

👀 It’s also the time to put up a new picture of the Kitchen God (see Feb 4) on the kitchen wall, so he can stay with the family for the whole year again ✨

Have you ever exchanged 红包 hóngbāo-s on WeChat? Are you good at snatching them quickly?

Day 2 of the New Year

初二 (Chū’èr)

January 23, 2023

Visiting the Wife’s Family

According to the tradition, the 2nd day of the New Year is the time to 回娘家 (huí niángjia) – visit the family of one’s wife’s side.

This is the time when the gifts bought earlier start coming in handy! Along with 红包 (hóngbāo), red envelopes🧧

As for the taboos and superstitions – cleaning the house, sweeping the dust, and throwing away the garbage today is believed to be NOT very auspicious. It can wait until tomorrow. (Although in modern times, not everyone follows this rule – keeping the house clean is important too! You will see many people “preparing” the garbage by putting it outside their door, but not taking it to the trash can yet.)

Is there a special day of the year in your culture when a wife, with her husband and children, should visit her parents?

Day 3 of the New Year

初三 (Chūsān)

JANUARY 24, 2023

Staying at Home

On the 3th day of the New Year, people traditionally stay at home and don’t go out.

Day 4 of the New Year

初四 (Chūsì)

JANUARY 25, 2023

Greeting the Kitchen God

And on the 4th day, the tradition continues – but with a new twist. Because it’s the day when the Kitchen God (灶神) comes back!

And what’s the proper way to welcome the Kitchen God? By tricking him a little, of course!

This time, it’s done by having a meal put together of all the food left since the CNY feast (过年以来的剩饭剩菜 guònián yǐlái de shèngfàn shèngcài). First of all, it’s practical: this way the family can finally finish all the food. And secondly, once the Kitchen God arrives and sees a family having leftovers, he will feel sorry and think “Oh look at this poor family surviving on leftovers! Let me make this year a little better for them.”

And he’ll help make the new year more prosperous.

Today is also a good time to clean, sweep the dust, and get rid of the garbage collected over the days. In some regions it’s called 扔穷 (rēng qióng) – “throwing away-poverty”. 👋

And in general, today is considered to be the day when 诸神 (zhū shén) -“all sorts of gods and spirits” – come back, so people prepare offerings and greet them.

And while today’s tradition of greeting the Kitchen God might be fading away with time, the tradition of greeting the next deity is still alive and well 👇

Day 5 of the New Year

初五 (Chūwǔ)

JANUARY 26, 2023

Greeting the God of Wealth

This day never goes unnoticed on Chinese social media.

If you have WeChat and follow your Chinese friends’ moments, chances you will see posts today that say:

大年初五，迎财神!
Dànián chūwǔ, yíng Cáishén!
It’s the 5th day of the New Year, (time to) meet the God of Wealth!

Indeed, nowadays the tradition of welcoming in (迎接 yíngjiē) the God of Wealth (财神 Cáishén) is still very popular. Who doesn’t want to be prosperous, and let their businesses thrive in the new year?

So the 5th day of the New Year got the name 财神节 Cáishénjiē (“the day of the God of Wealth”), and as it happens to be his birthday, many people will post welcoming messages to him online, and make fruit offerings offline🍎🍊

大年初五，迎财神 💰💵💶💷💴

Day 15 of the New Year

初十五 (Chūshíwǔ)

February 5, 2023

Lantern Festival | 元宵节 (Yuánxiāo Jié)

This day marks the last day of the Chinese New year celebrations. It’s the first full moon in the New Year!

On this day, people traditionally eat sweet dumplings called 元宵 (yuánxiāo, “first night”) in the north and 汤圆 (tāngyuán, “round balls in soup”) in the south. They resemble the shape of the full moon, and symbolize reunion ✨

It’s also a lovely tradition to send sky lanterns 孔明灯 (kǒngmíngdēng) into the sky. Although nowadays in big cities it’s a bit dangerous – it’s flying “fire”, after all! – so you can always choose to send a digital 孔明灯 (kǒngmíngdēng) instead 🏮

Cat’s Cradle game | 翻花绳

If you grew up in the 70s, 80s or 90s, you might still remember the childhood string game called Cat’s Cradle. But did you know that it originated in China, and that it’s one of the oldest games in human history?

Its Chinese name is 翻花绳 (fān huāshéng), or simply 翻绳 (fān shéng) – literally “turning-rope”. It’s always been a very popular traditional game in China, especially among children.

The game is played with an elastic string (绳子 shéngzi), and the task is to create (挑翻 tiāofān) various string figures & patterns (花样 huāyàng).

You can play on your own, but the game is much more fun when it’s played by two players! In this case, the players take turns, and at each turn, alter the figure made by the other player.

The game usually begins with a simple figure such as “double cross” (双十字 shuāng shízi) , and continues as players create new figures such as “field” (田地 tiándì), “noodles” (面条 miàntiáo), “bull’s eye” (牛眼 niúyán), “water well” (水井 shuǐjǐng), etc.

The game ends when one of the players makes a mistake and creates a dead-end figure.

Counting Winter Days | 画九九

If you come from a country where winters are cold and windy, you probably know this feeling: you want the winter days to pass as soon as possible. Chinese people are the same, especially in the North!

So in the past, the Chinese counted winter days in groups of 9 beginning with the Winter Solstice, 冬至 (Dōngzhì). They believed there were 9 sets of 9 days (81 days) before spring came.

During this time, the average temperature in Beijing is usually around -5C, and in northeast China, it could plunge to as low as -30C! ❄️

No wonder people have always wanted this time to pass as quickly as possible. So they came up with a nice way to get through the winter: by playing games, doing fun activities, and drawing a… special painting to count down the winter days!

In Chinese, these kind of paintings are called 九九消寒图 (jiǔjiǔ xiāohán tú), literally “nine-nine-eliminate-cold-picture.”

This painting can take different forms. For example, it can be 9 characters, with 9 strokes each, that together read like a sentence or a poem (the “fancy”, scholarly way to count winter days). Or it can be the 9 flowers of a plum tree, with 9 petals each. We like the plum tree!

By coloring one element every day starting from the Winter Solstice, the picture can be finished in 81 days, just in time to welcome in the spring 🌿