Vorige maand werd het Chinese nieuwjaar gevierd. De grootste feestdag van China. Dit wordt niet op één dag gevierd, maar het feest duurt wel 15 dagen. Chinezen brengen deze dagen door met familie en vrienden onder het genot van lekker zelfgemaakt eten. Onze Local Hero Stella vertelt hoe haar Chinese nieuwjaar was.
Most important holiday
The Chinese New Year is the most important of the holidays for the Chinese. Normally, the celebration will start from the New Year's Eve and will last for around 15 days until the middle of the first month.
Since it is the biggest and important festival, the preparation work began 7 days in advance. My parents, who are self-employed and have more free time, were mainly in charge of the preparation. They purchased different kinds of meat, vegetables, fruit, candies and snacks in advance, the amount of which should be enough for self-use and hosting relatives during the New Year Holiday. This is an old tradition, because in the old times, we could only buy food in local markets, and the markets would be closed during the New Year Holiday. Nowadays, many big supermarkets are still available during the holiday, so my parents decreased their purchasing amount. Then, we cleaned our house from the bottom to the top. For us this means removing all bad luck and welcoming the good luck, and display traditional New Year decorations.
Self-made snacks
In the next 3 days, my mother and I were busy making different kinds of New Year Food, fry meat, make dumplings and steam buns. I liked this very much, because my mother made many delicious snacks that she would not be willing to make at usual days.
Spending time with the family
On the New Year’s Eve, our family gathered together, enjoyed a big meal and watched the Spring Festival Gala. The air pollution in China is very serious now, so my city issued a ban on setting fireworks. It was a pity, but we still had fun talking with each other and playing Mahjong. Mahjong is a traditional Chinese game that my whole family loves. We always play it on New Year Eve. This year, I was the one who won most of the money! We believe the one who wins will have good luck in the coming year. So, I believe I will have a very lucky and smooth 2017!
When the New Year’s Eve ended, the New Year came. We visited one of my relatives on each day, gathering together and enjoying a big meal. In our tradition, the unmarried young people will get red pocket from elder relatives. Though I am 26 years old this year, I am still single and unmarried, so I could still enjoy this benefit this year. I love my ancestors who invented this tradition! Haha!
Back to reality
After a 7 days holiday, I was back to work, beginning a new year. Hope what the Mahjong game implied is true!
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