We have just celebrated the Lunar New Year (Chinese New Year) - this year being the Year of the Monkey, and I thought it would be interesting to investigate where all the decorations and traditions come from and what they mean.
I am sure most of you are aware of the good luck associated with the colour Red and how it symbolises good luck, fortune and joy. The red packets that are handed to friends, family and colleagues are called Hongbao, (in Mandarin) or Lai See (in Cantonese). Money is placed inside, and it is supposed to send more good luck to the recipients. Red packets of cash are provided to all employees, meaning Mike has had a busy week. Our only other recipient is our new helper, Angie, who was super excited to not only receive the money but be considered in our well wishes.
The neighbourhood has been heavily decorated with red lanterns, and other fancy garlands. On walking through the local village, I found the a large pop-up market selling all the required decorations and gifts for Chinese New Year. Along with the items described below, they sell lanterns, toys, lots of traditional sweets and foodstuffs.
The Fai Chun banners, which are long red and gold decorations with peace giving phrases are displayed at peoples homes to give good luck and health to the family and visitors.
Flowers are a very important aspect of the celebrations and the HUGE volumes of flowers available are astounding. Water Lilies are very common and it is said, that if they flower during the Lunar New year, then the family will have a good year ahead. The Kumquat bushes (Kut) are very very popular and they are usually purchased by office blocks, apartments and shops and placed at the entrance to bring good luck and is supposed to denote happy generations ahead. Bamboo shoots and Cherry Blossom trees are also very popular.
One article I did read highlighted the fact that over 40,000 kumquat trees would be purchased in Hong Kong over the New Year period and most of these would end up in landfill. Most of the bushes are thrown out and not planted or composted but some eco-farms are trying to change that. Even the number of trees used to create the red packets is astounding - over 16000 trees for Hong Kong alone !!
We have been lucky to have a 5 day weekend this year with the Lunar New Year falling at the start of the week. We took the opportunity to visit another Asian country, The Phillipines and I will write about that shortly.
I am sure most of you are aware of the good luck associated with the colour Red and how it symbolises good luck, fortune and joy. The red packets that are handed to friends, family and colleagues are called Hongbao, (in Mandarin) or Lai See (in Cantonese). Money is placed inside, and it is supposed to send more good luck to the recipients. Red packets of cash are provided to all employees, meaning Mike has had a busy week. Our only other recipient is our new helper, Angie, who was super excited to not only receive the money but be considered in our well wishes.
The neighbourhood has been heavily decorated with red lanterns, and other fancy garlands. On walking through the local village, I found the a large pop-up market selling all the required decorations and gifts for Chinese New Year. Along with the items described below, they sell lanterns, toys, lots of traditional sweets and foodstuffs.
The Fai Chun banners, which are long red and gold decorations with peace giving phrases are displayed at peoples homes to give good luck and health to the family and visitors.
Flowers are a very important aspect of the celebrations and the HUGE volumes of flowers available are astounding. Water Lilies are very common and it is said, that if they flower during the Lunar New year, then the family will have a good year ahead. The Kumquat bushes (Kut) are very very popular and they are usually purchased by office blocks, apartments and shops and placed at the entrance to bring good luck and is supposed to denote happy generations ahead. Bamboo shoots and Cherry Blossom trees are also very popular.
One article I did read highlighted the fact that over 40,000 kumquat trees would be purchased in Hong Kong over the New Year period and most of these would end up in landfill. Most of the bushes are thrown out and not planted or composted but some eco-farms are trying to change that. Even the number of trees used to create the red packets is astounding - over 16000 trees for Hong Kong alone !!
We have been lucky to have a 5 day weekend this year with the Lunar New Year falling at the start of the week. We took the opportunity to visit another Asian country, The Phillipines and I will write about that shortly.
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| The Fai Chun banners |
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| The Kumquat bushes and flowers |
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