I am really excited to share my first impression and feelings about Chinese culture The Spring FestivalthatIjustexperienced for the first timeon the Land of China, I recommend the reader to check out the short video I made as well.
As learned in the Chinese Panorama course, The Chinese New Year is the biggest celebration in the Chinese calendar, I understood that only aftergoing experiencingit myself and I can testify now that it’s definitely the most important celebration.
At the very beginning of the holyday, I wanted to book a train ticket online for Hangzhou, but at my biggest surprise there wasn’t any available ticket for the whole week on, It turns out to be that millions of People migrate at the same time to join their respective families during the winter vacation in orderto celebrate the Lunar New year with family members,regardless the distance. This is what shocked me the most about this holyday because in the whole world there is no holyday during which family reunion takes place as customary. This gives a first impression of close relationship between Chinese family members. This characteristic of the holyday expresses out how people care here about relationships between families in the society which is very admirable aspect of Chinese culture.
On February 15th the night was amazingly noisy with fireworks, bunch of firecrackers ignited in the hands of people, the sound was really big, splashing around as if to send blessing to all the ten of households, waves of firecrackers continuously crackling and bustling. Wherever I was going during the holyday, there are reds decorations, and It was funny to see red decorations hanging up at the top of the street lights. Decorating for Chinese New Year involves lots of red which stands for happiness in Chinese culture. There are calligraphy signs posted on the front door called chun lian or spring couplet. On the Lantern Festival, the decorations were very lovely as especially when we were watching the lanterns flown far away in the sky and almost gaveimpression of being flying stars. There are also red lanterns hung in the houses. Gold is usually the secondary color for decorating. Gold stands for good fortune. So they want to welcome the New Year with happiness and good fortune. Signs with the luck are often posted throughout. Chinese New Year is an especially fun time for children. They are often given red envelopes with money in them.
Family is central is this celebration. Although we did not go back in our respective countries, we still had generous teachers and leaders who did their best to let us enjoy and experience the New Year period with them together. Every family though gathers for a big reunion dinner. Lots of wonderful food is served at Chinese New Year's parties. Noodles are always served because they symbolize long life. And of course we all want that. Dumplings and pot stickers are also part of the celebration. Oranges are served to represent wealth. Pigs, ducks, and chicken are also served. Family also gathers to do a big yearly cleaning of their homes. They are hoping to sweep out any "ill fortune" and make room for all the good luck coming in the future.
It’s has been a really funtime to discover how the New Year goes differently in giant China and just in my personal opinion Ithink it would have been great if the world celebrated the New Year (January1st) with much more fantasy and consideration as it is the case here. It’sbound to be enjoyable and interesting it is to spend in my four years of studies and thereby I dedicate most appreciation to the culture originality and lifestyle.
