A Hopeful New Year
written by Winnie Yu
 Greetings
everyone,
and Happy Chinese New Year! This is the Year of the Tiger, a sign of
energy, zeal, and courage. Tiger years are usually more turbulent but
also, according to many fengshui masters, a year of success despite
volatility, for tigers are dominant, strong characters who succeed at
what they do.
Chinese
New Year is my favorite holiday, one of the oldest agrarian holidays.
Festivities in Hong Kong, China or the rest of Asia, would last 10 days
to 1 month. We were off from school or work for at least 2 weeks, with
each day a celebration involving something significant. Usually, it is
an opportunity to call on your family and friends, give gifts, enjoy
each other's company, eat an enormous amount of rich, sweet foods, and
receive red envelopes if you were a kid. If you were unmarried, you
could also technically receive a red envelope from those who are
married, age not withstanding. It's traditional Chinese society's way of embarrassing you
into marriage!
Tea
is the gift of choice, along with flowers, sweets, but golden colorful
fruits such as pommelo and kumquats were also popular. Each gift item
has a significant meaning, but most importantly, one must learn to stay
away from faux pas gifts. That is, anything in black, white, or blue
are shunned colors, or numbers like 4 or 7 were considered bad luck.
Conversely, give gifts in pairs or threes, and display items in groups
of eight or nine. The Chinese are extremely superstitious and nothing
gives more offense than giving the wrong gift. Generally, gifts should
be wrapped in red or gold paper. I recommend giving tea as the best
and safest choice, as it conforms to an appreciated social etiquette
called 'Cha Li'. Pu-Erh is generally the most preferred type of tea for the elderly but Oolongs hint at sophistication.
Chinese
New Year is not only about social decorum or customs; at heart, it is a
celebration of connections. Friends and family are visited according to
age and respectability, so for example, one must pay a visit to one's
grandparents in the first day, and one's uncles and aunts in the
second. For same generation friends and cousins, one fights over who
gets to visit whom first, a way of giving face and assigning
significance to the other party. Children have to dress their new
year's best and behave appropriately and with respect. No cussing or
negative words were allowed. On the first day of New Year's, the
children must all serve tea to their parents first thing in the
morning. Then they receive their red envelopes.
Street
fairs and loud entertainment in the form of lion dancers, fireworks,
martial arts, and acrobatic performances were pervasive. Lion dances
and firecrackers scare away evil spirits. Greetings in the form of
poetry written on red paper hang in every door, interior space, or any
place that needed luck. The most common word is 'fok' (fortune) and is
ubiquitously displayed but in general they announce the intentions and
wishes of the host, including ones like' Health and Prosperity in the
New Year', 'Come and Go in Safety', or 'Rise to New Heights'. At the
very least, one is expected to greet each other verbally with 'Gong Hay
Fat Choy' in Cantonese, meaning 'Wishing You Sudden Wealth'.
Our
goal at Teance is not only to introduce the best teas from Asia, but
also some of the rich social heritage it is part of. We will be
observing Chinese New Year from Feb 14th to 25th this year! so please join us to
experience a holiday belonging to one of the oldest cultures in the
world!
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