Gong Xi Fa Cai
Gong Xi Fa Cai, which is Chinese for Happy New Lunar Year, a very important time in the Chinese year. This year 2008 is the Year of the Rat.
The Chinese New Year celebration lasts for 15 days, and can fall anytime between 21st January and 20th February depending upon the full moon.
The first day is the Chinese New Year, and is called the Spring Festival. Often little red packets (called an-pao in Malaysia) are given out to the unmarried members of the family by the married members, and contain money. Often houses are visited by the Lion Dancers bringing good luck.
The colour red is important to the Chinese at this time, with houses, buildings decorated in red, with Chinese auspicious phrases on banners and red lanterns, and people will often dress-up in red clothes.
Various special days are celebrated during this period, where the God of Fortune is greeted on the fifth day and fire crackers are let off, the loudest bringing the greatest fortune, but many fire crackers are let off on the first day.
The fifteenth day is the Lantern Festival (which is again celebrated in September), and where a special cake or dumpling made out of glutinous rice and is very sticky called the neen koh, is eaten, symbolising that the lips will be sealed together, thus not allowing the wrong doings of the family to be reported to the departed or spirits.
Gong Xi Fa Cai