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Lunar New Year

By: iTopTopics Staff

Lunar New Year Customs: Foods

Lunar New Year Custom: Foods

There are many dishes signifying a different meaning or belief to each culture, each family. Here are just a few popular food items for the Lunar New Year festivities which Chinese or people who celebrate Lunar New Year believe to be lucky for the new year.

The word “fish” in Chinese (Yu) sounds like the word “surplus” therefore at the first meal to start a Lunar New Year, a dish with fish is chosen as a must-have course. What kind of fish and how to prepare, how to eat the fish are also important.

Dumplings symbolize wealth. Most Chinese believe that the more dumplings you consume on the first day of Lunar New Year, the more money you make during that year. So eat up those delicious juicy dumplings and be prosperous all year round!

Glutinous rice cakes are also a popular item on the menu for Lunar New Year dining. The word for cake, gao, sounds like a term meaning “exalted” or “lofty,” and when preceded by the word for year (nian), is homophonous with a term that means to advance in an upwardly fashion, climbing up the ladder in society and workplace. In China, there is “Nian gao” sticky rice cake. While in Vietnam, there is “banh chung” or “banh tet”, also a savory sticky rice cake wrapped in banana leaves which symbolizes the pride in their heritage, their ancestors.

Lunar New Year Custom: Taboos, Things not to do on New Year’s Day

The celebration of Lunar New Year carries many superstitious beliefs and for those who celebrate this festivity, there are things to do and things to avoid during the very first day of the New Year to ensure a good start of a year filled with luck, health, wealth and happiness.

Here is the list of a few taboos you should try to steer away from:

  • As mentioned previously, it is important to avoid the number four (si) as well as you’d want to avoid conversations about death, illness or any bad health issues.
  • Avoid wearing black or white color clothes, as those are the colors for funeral, for mourning. Red and gold are the popular choices of colors for the Lunar New Year.
  • Avoid sweeping the house during the first 3 days of the Lunar New Year as if you were sweeping your wealth away. The cleaning up the house should be done prior to the start of the Lunar New Year to welcome ancestors and guests on New Year to your clean and neat house.
  • Try not to break any dish or anything for that matter. Breaking a plate is like breaking a mirror, it might carry bad luck to the person who causes the accident.
  • Don’t borrow or lend any money during this festivity as it is believed you might be poor for the rest of the year keep borrowing money or lending money away.

Happy Year of the Rooster! Wishing you and your family a year full of health, prosperity and happiness!

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