Last night, I was invited by my Chinese friend to spend the eve of the Chinese New Year with them. How fun it was! There were enough food to feed a town. We played cards, lit up some firework, and watched Chinese shows on TV.
Earlier that day, I attended an event at the Lucky Chinatown in Binondo to celebrate this festive annual event. I have to thank MegaWorld (the developer of Lucky Chinatown) for the invite, where we saw dragon dances, poetry reading by Chinese children, and a speech from Manila Mayor Aldredo Lim, MMDA Chairman Francis Tolentino, and several officials of the Chinese Filipino Business Club. Kevin Tan, heir to the MegaWorld empire, was also in attendance.
Today, the actual start of the Chinese New Year, an article I wrote about the event appears in the Philippine Daily Inquirer. It's basically just some interesting tidbits about this occasion--one of the most celebrated events in the world. Here's an excerpt. Enjoy! :)
- Transportation planners in China expect some 3.4 billion individual trips between January 26 and March 7. Of the huge migration, an estimated 236 million are migrant workers.
- Aside from the more common name of "Chinese New Year," the event is also known as the Lunar New Year. In fact, it is officially called “Spring Festival” in China.
- The Philippines may be the text capital of the world, but the world record for “most text messages sent in a day” is broken each year during Chinese New Year with the current record at 19 billion.
- Family reunions is a staple during the Chinese New Year, but a superstition in China says that the third day (February 12 this year) is considered a bad day to visit loved ones.
- The common practice when it comes to Ang Pao (also called Lai See or Hong Bao)—those red and gold enveloped that contains money—is for someone in a more senior stature to give it to a much junior individual (i.e. an uncle to his nephew).
- Chinese New Year apparently started centuries ago when a mythical beast called Nian terrorized a village in China every New Year. To appease the demon, people would offer food outside their homes. But when they noticed that Nian would cower at the sight of anything red, they started coloring their houses with it.
- In the Caribbean, the largest Chinese community can be found in Cuba. In Africa, it is in South Africa, with as many as 350,000 people Chinese residents there. A Chinese community in Britain, on the other hand, is expected to garner 400,000 in central London to enjoy the festivities.
- In the Chinese Zodiac, the snake occupies the 6th position. Traits like intelligence, gracefulness and materialism are few descriptions commonly associated with the snake.
- In China, rental car businesses traditionally have their best months of the year during the Spring Festival. China Daily reports that out of the 45,000 vehicles of one of the nation’s biggest car rental companies, China Auto Rental, 95 percent have been booked for the period.
- During this time, people avoid using sharp objects or items with sharp points as these are said to be harbingers of bad luck. A person having his or her hair cut during this time is said to have his good luck chopped off as well.
Sources:
www.dw.de, gohongkong.about.com, wikipedia.org, puretravel.com,
goseaasia.about.com, travelblat.com, chinadaily.com, voanews.com
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