"It was a cold quiet night. No fireworks! New year 2019,Beijing China," My diary indicates.
"I liked Chinese New year more as a kid because I used to be the flower girl every year in the parade and it felt like a great responsability in those days" says Angela Hua.
Nairobi - Beijing transition.
"From the seventh floor of my apartment in Ngara Nairobi, an area on the outskirts of the Central business district, I view the fireworks. As is tradition the first to go up hails from the Jomo Kenyatta International Convention Centre (KICC), an iconic building in the City. Numerous patterns that light up the skies of the city follow. From my house I can hear my neighbours shout , 'happy new year!'," I recall..
This year's new year's eve was 'dry.' No fireworks on site or jubilation to welcome the new year. It's not new year here I discover. New year comes in February this year, I learn.The famous spring festival is new year in China. My new year has dawned so for the night, I call my family in Kenya who are five hours away from my reality. I wish them a happy new year and by 12.30 am I'm in bed, early for new year's eve or should I say a month away from the new year's eve?
Chinese new year otherwise known as the spring festival is a 15 day long celebration guided by traditional Chinese cosmology. Like the Jews the Chinese people use the soli-lunar calendar.a calendar that keep the solar and lunar years approximately synchronised. On the night of the full moon on the second month of winter the Spring festival begins.The most important days being the first 4 days.Traditionally family will come together and share a big meal among other activities.
Many customs of the season are designed to bring good luck in the coming year.
The most significant activities are; cleaning the house, decorating the house, fireworks on the eve, wearing new clothes, making lanterns and having dragon, Honouring the Zodiac year animal, having big meals with family and giving red envelope gifts to Children.
Spring festival experience for Chinese from different parts of the world.
"we normally have a spring festival eve. We have dinner together and at 12 o'clock we go outside to view and release some fireworks," says Eve a Beijing resident. For the rest of the seven days that follow she says, they visit parks and family.
Each day in the 15 days has its own food,such as dumplings,noodles,rice glue ball and so on.During the fifteen days, people visit their relatives from door to door. At that time,children are the happiest because they can get many red packets form their parents,grand parents, uncles, aunts and so on.
"I feel like it is more festive when you are younger because your parents make it more of a thing and you get the red envelopes with money in them from a lot of people" says Angela Hua as she recalls her Childhood..
Angela is a Belgian Citizen with Chinese roots. Like many other Chinese families that relocated to Europe, her Parents observed the Spring festival. In Europe the festival was launched through a parade where the Chinese community showcased their culture in the Cities they lived in.The Culture day which fascinated many Europeans who actively participated was characterised by traditional dances, lion dancers, among other spring festival related traditions like that of giving red envelopes to children.
"I liked Chinese new year more as a kid because I used to be the flower girl every year in the parade and it felt like a great responsability in those days" she adds. This she mentions in relation to her new reality as a student in China. She acknowledges that her new environment and the absence of her family will present a different Kind of experience. However, she looks forward to the real Spring festival now that she's at the location of its origin.
Grace a Philippines Citizen who is half Chinese half Filipino, has lived in Shenzhen, China since she was eight. To her the Spring festival is time for family. Over the years she has celebrated the festival with her Chinese family mostly without her nuclear family which is in Philippines.
"I spend my Chinese new year in China. My family lives in Philippines and they don't have Chinese new year holiday." she said and further explained that this fact stops her nuclear family from being with them for the festival. ""Last year I celebrated new year in Fujian our hometown with my extended family. We have hotpot every year with lots of sea food." she added.
Fish is a signature dish during this festival since it is associated with good fortune. Different animals symbolise different things in China. For the spring festival, 12 animals symbolise the 12 year sequence.The mouse, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.These symbols are considered especially important in marriage match-making, to make sure that the husband and wife will be compatible. For example, if a woman born in the Year of the Snake marries a man born in the Year of the Rat, there will be trouble ahead.
2018 is the dog year. 2019 will be the pig year. This animals are considered to be friendly and pleasant to be around. The world views the dragon, snake and tiger as dangerous animals. However Chinese people have a positive view of them hence the symbolism. Same goes for the rest of the animals.
For Marc a Taiwanese who has grown up in Shanghai, Spring festival is home time.The Tsinghua University Masters student hopes to spend time with His family both in Shanghai and Taiwan. Having grown up in this metropolitan City, he admits that Spring festival is different in Shanghai. "Shanghai is a modern city with many immigrants. People in Shanghai prefer travelling abroad as a new way to celebrate and immigrants go back to their hometown."
"I dont do the traditional things much but I know I should go back for family reunion in those days" he says.
Like Marc, his classmate Sijia Li a Chinese Canadian does not observe most traditional things. "Because we lived in Canada, we didn't get days off work or school for Chinese new year. So we never had a huge celebration, just sometimes a big dinner where we invite other families, or they invite us over for an evening. To me, Christmas is the more significant holiday because it gives me more time to spend with my family" she says. She hopes to go back to Canada and spend the New year with her family as is tradition.
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