Traditional Greeting: Gung Hey Fat Choy

Chinese New Year is celebrated according to the lunar calendar and begins with the new moon that falls in late January or early February. It lasts for fifteen days, until the full moon appears in the night sky. Chinese New Year is a time of rebirth and renewal, a time when old grudges are forgotten and relationships begin anew.

The Chinese believe that actions and events that take place during the period of New Year will be repeated throughout the coming year. Most of the customs and traditions associated with Chinese New Year are intended to promote good fortune under this principle. Before the New Year, all loans must be repaid, for people believe that anyone who borrows or lends during New Year will be borrowing or lending all year long. Houses must also be cleansed beforehand, since those who clean on New Year's Day risk sweeping their good fortune out the door.

The Chinese New Year is a holiday centered around close family and friends. Families usually get together on New Year's Eve for a reunion dinner. They are always careful to pay their respects to their ancestors, since they established the family's foundation and are responsible for its fortune in future generations. Houses are lavishly decorated with red, orange, and gold, the colors of wealth and happiness. No house is without blooming flowers, especially azaleas, water lilies, plum flours, and peach blossoms, since they symbolize rebirth and new growth.

To celebrate the Chinese New Year, married adults buy dozens of bright red envelopes called lai see. A crisp new dollar bill symbolizing good fortune is put into each one, and adults visit friends and family to give one or two to each child and bachelor or bachelorette. Friends and family also offer one another oranges and candy for sweet beginnings.

Jai is the name for a combination of several foods that represent good fortune: black moss, bamboo shoots, bean curd, vermicelli, and ginkgo nuts. Other traditional New Year foods are fish and chicken (always whole to prevent an incomplete year), cake called ni gao, yuanxioa (dumpling made of rice flour), oysters, prawns, and fai hai (edible hair-thin seaweed).

Fireworks and sparklers are common throughout the 15 days of the Chinese New Year. Streets and houses are aglow with light and noise as the coming year is welcomed with a bang. The full moon brings the end of the festivities with the Festival of Lanterns. The Chinese New Year concludes with celebrations of singing, dancing, marching, and lantern shows.