It may be 2014 already, but according to the Chinese calendar, the Chinese New Year is coming up! On January 31st, the year of the horse begins, as well as all festivities related to the Chinese New Year. Though it is only celebrated for two days, Chinese New Year can still be referred to as a holiday.
“Chinese New Year is kind of like Thanksgiving,” explains Kevin Sun, a junior at Dublin. “Our families meet up and we have a big feast, the only difference is that we also get money.”
Generally, to celebrate Chinese New Year, families join together and have a huge dinner on New Year’s Eve. Other traditions include wearing red and giving out red envelopes to children, which contain money.
“My favorite part of Chinese New Year is the food and the money,” Sun claims, ”Something that my family does all the time is gather together around the TV and watch fireworks as well.”
There are many students at Dublin that do various things to celebrate.
“During the New Year, I enjoy seeing relatives, especially the ones from foreign countries,” Benson Kung, junior at Dublin says. “Usually, my family just cooks up a bunch of food and we all eat at home, I believe that Chinese New Year is about spending time with family, and wishing for a good new year!”
“Chinese New Year is about family, getting together and celebrating. Something my family does every year is watch a Chinese New Years show while eating sticky rice cake,” explains Littera Kwong, a senior at Dublin.
It seems that whatever families do, there is a common thing: joining together and celebrating. It’s a time to celebrate, eat, and see familiar faces. Chinese or not, what will you be doing on Chinese New Year?