Chinese New Year

What does people normally do on February 14th in North America? Probably most of you would say "Of Course people will have nice romantic dinner! Its a Valentines Day!" But for the year 2010, February the 14th is not only the Valentines Day, but also its the Chinese New Year Day.


Chinese New Year, also referred to as Lunar New Year, is determined by the lunisolar Chinese calendar and it usually falls between end of January and middle of February. On Chinese New Year day, people visit their families and relatives to celebrate together. People would decorate their houses with red couplets and red lanterns.


Children and juniors are provided with red envelops with some money inside by the elders. The symbolism for red envelops is to suppress or put down the evil spirit and be lucky. Traditionally the amount of money inside the red envelop should be even number (Chinese people believe that odd number is unlucky as its sometimes associated with funerals.)



Probably, the most important tradition of Chinese New Year would be the family dinner. The way Chinese people put their heart in the New Year Dinner is the same as how important the Christmas dinner is in the Western culture. People will eat or display fish. Fish is one of the important cuisine for the new years day as the pronunciation of the word fish in Chinese is the same as the pronunciation of the word surpluses. Also, in Northern China, people would eat dumplings(jiao zi in Chinese) whereas in Southern China, they make a new year cake (Niangao in Chinese). In Vancouver, you will be able to experience some traditions of Chinese New Year as there are many events happening in the city. Here are some information.




*The annual Chinese New Year Parade:
Time: Sunday, February 14, 9:30am - 11am
Place: starting from the Millennium Gate at Pender St.

*Cultural Fair:
Time: February 14, 11am - 3pm
Place: the Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Garden Courtyard