Chinese New Year 2025 Feasting and Gathering, Traditions and Rituals
Chinese New Year which follows the lunar calendar, falls on the 29th of January in 2025 and is celebrated for 15 days till the full moon of the first lunar month. It will be the year of the Wooden Snake, the sixth animal of the 12 year Chinese zodiac cycle. Years of the Snake include 2025, 2013, 2001, 1989, 1977, 1965, 1953, 1941... People born in the Year of the Snake are believed to be mysterious, wise, charming, intuitive, strategic, and caring.
We celebrate with feasts, gatherings and rituals to usher in Abundance Happiness Health Wealth and all things good for the new year.
The festivities start on the eve of Chinese New Year. And we start the feast with a salad called ‘Yee Sang’. Yee Sang is a ‘Prosperity toss’ where you toss a salad with particular ingredients that have symbols of Abundance, Prosperity and Good luck. Traditionally bringing wishes for reaching higher levels, for Households to be filled with gold and silver, Prosperity for the business and for Life to always be Sweet…
Traditionally this dish is served on the seventh day of the new year but nowadays it is enjoyed in the lead up to the new year as well as during the 15 days of new year.
We continue the feast with a steam steam boat. Traditionally the steamboat is cooked in a donut shaped pot with the circle filled with broth heated by the centre of charcoal. Nowadays a slow heater pot on a small cooker does the trick. Although I still prefer the charcoal as it imparts another dimension of flavour. The reason for this dish is the broth continues to stay hot throughout the eve and as family from far and wide come to the oldest generation's typically grandparent's home, their dinner is always warm.
Here are links to the recipes for the salad and steam boat.
Happy Feasting and Gathering to you this Chinese New Year eve! May Abundance, Happiness, Health and Wealth fill your life.
Here are some other Chinese New Year traditions and rituals used to usher in the new year.
On Chinese New Year's day we wear new clothes for the new year. And typically in red as the colour red symbolises luck and prosperity.
We also hang a pair of red lanterns at home typically by the front door but I believe you can hang them anywhere. Mine are indoors. Streets are also lined with lanterns and looks so bright and magnificient.
The red lanterns represent people letting go, leaving behind the previous year and starting the new year with light, hope and optimism. They are a symbol of good luck, peace, prosperity, and hope for the new year. They are often used to symbolise abundance. The lantern festival marks the end of Chinese New Year on the 15th day of the first full moon.
And we have a lion dance, an important ritual believed to bring good luck and drive away unwanted spirits on auspicious occasions. The lion dancers are like acrobats so nimble and agile. They give oranges another auspicious symbol and we give red packets to them.
Oranges symbolise good fortune, wealth, and prosperity. Mandarin oranges in particular have always been considered as a traditional symbol of good fortune. This is mainly because the word orange, when spoken in mandarin, sounds similar to the word “wealth”. The orange colour of the fruit is also said to symbolise “gold”, which makes it a very auspicious fruit. In Cantonese, the word for "gold" sounds similar to the Mandarin word for "orange".
Growing up was fun, children receive red packets filled with cash from the older married generation. And technically you can continue to receive this for many years should you remain single! The red packets symbolise good wishes and luck for the new year. And the cash need only be a token as it is the red that is significant and symbolises good luck and prosperity.
