Happy New Year! Today is the first day of the Year of the Pig. We have been waiting for this holiday for ages! For anyone who doesn't live in Asia - Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar and begins on the new moon of a new year. This is definitely the biggest Chinese Festival and the celebrations last for 15 days (but we only get a week off). It started last night and will end on Lantern festival. Everybody has also been getting ready for quite a while. it is traditional to clean your house thoroughly before the start of the holiday, people chuck loads of stuff out. when we lived in TaoYuan which is more rural that Taipei, the pavements would be lined with old couches and chairs and stuff.
Everybody gets a haircut before the start of the holiday and the kids all get new clothes. At about 6 o clock last night all the stores closed down and the streets were actually quiet. It is traditional to go to your parent's house for the holiday so Taipei is actually really quiet right now. Families gather together for a big meal to celebrate New Year's Eve. Certain foods are considered to be lucky - like pineapple. People hang up red paper cuttings and lucky messages in their homes and workplaces. Red is also considered to be lucky, since the Nian (year) monster who used to come out and eat everybody at New Year's doesn't like red. loads and loads of firecrackers get set off, and I don't mean one at a time - they go off in strings and it's a long series of explosions that can last up for minutes. These went on all night, needless to say the cats weren't impressed.
The main part of the holiday for the kids is getting their 'hombao' (red envelopes) They get these from their parents, grandparents, uncles, aunts and friends of the family. Yup, they really cash in! there's also a little ceremony that they do before the get the envelopes. In the words of Tony (9yearsold) "I have to tell my parents they are good and then they will give me money"
Ah, it's good to see they're not getting to materialistic about it!:)
Lion dancing and dragon dancing is definitely the best part of it for photographers, I'm hoping to get some good pics this week. There are also traditional songs playing in all the shops.
To celebrate Chinese new year, I made a little kit which you can grab if you like. It'd be great if you leave me a note if you take it, and of course, I'd really love to see if you make anything with it. So, please drop me a line! Gongxi Fa Tsai!
Very nicely done. TFS
Posted by: Rosemarie | February 18, 2007 at 06:43 AM
Such a beautiful kit,MA! Got it:) Thanks! I know a bit of the tradition as I have a little Chinese blood in me and my Aunts back home celebrate this..:)
Gongxi Fa Tsai!
:)
Posted by: Yen | February 18, 2007 at 06:48 AM
wowie!! this is impressive! love the rich colors! have fun this week celebrating! :)
Posted by: Shandy | February 18, 2007 at 07:39 AM
Have a great celebration Mary-Ann!!
Thanks for the kit!! This is gorgeous!
Emilie
Posted by: Emilie | February 18, 2007 at 08:08 AM
This is really nice! Thank you so much :)
Posted by: Suzi | February 18, 2007 at 09:02 AM
Thank you for the beautiful kit.
Posted by: Shirley | February 18, 2007 at 09:44 AM
I think this is the first time I have visited your blog and I really enjoyed reading it. I love reading about other culturs and traditions. Thank you for sharing the lovely kit. Have a great holiday!
Posted by: Donna | February 18, 2007 at 09:45 AM
Thank you for sharing!! Great work!!
Posted by: Moni | February 18, 2007 at 10:17 AM
this is an amazing kit!! Thank you so much!!
Posted by: Debra | February 18, 2007 at 10:54 AM
Just beautiful! Thanks so much for the wonderful gift!
Posted by: Jaime | February 18, 2007 at 11:34 AM
The kit is lovely! Sorry I missed out on it, but it looks like the link is expired. Thanks for sharing anyway!
Posted by: elfinwynter | February 18, 2007 at 12:38 PM
Darn I missed out on it too. :( Said it was expired... It is a beautiful kit the colors and textures look awesome and would go perfectly with pics of my trip to Beijing. :)
Posted by: Amy | February 18, 2007 at 02:15 PM
Ohhhhhhh :(
Please renew the link :)
Andrea.
Posted by: Andrea | February 18, 2007 at 02:33 PM
This is just so gorgeous!
Sorry I missed it!
Posted by: Maisie | February 18, 2007 at 02:53 PM
absolutely lovely, sorry I missed it
Posted by: ilv2cruise | February 18, 2007 at 02:56 PM
Beautiful kit Please renew the link. Exceeded download limit.
Posted by: Kathy Depue | February 18, 2007 at 03:11 PM
Hi,
The kit has exceeded the download limit and I really would love to have it. My daughter Emma is adopted from China and I am working on her adoption lifebook and this would be very useful for that.
Stacey
slbedgood@aol.com
Posted by: Stacey Bedgood | February 18, 2007 at 04:33 PM
Hi,
Another request to renew the link!! I have lots of pictures to scrap from our celebration last night!
Thanks! Eileen
Posted by: Eileen | February 18, 2007 at 04:50 PM
so sad to have missed this. I'm a dragon fanatic and my second fav is pretty frames for my scrap book pages. I'm just drooling over those items but the whole kit is great. I really hope you repost it
Posted by: cynthia | February 18, 2007 at 05:38 PM
Beautiful kit. I was unable to grab it due to the download limit. Please repost it. I would love to use it for doing pages of my daughter's lifebook.
Posted by: Alice | February 18, 2007 at 06:47 PM
BUMMER! I love the looks of this kit! Both my daughters were born in China and this would be perfect for so many layouts that I do for them!
Posted by: chmir2 | February 18, 2007 at 07:08 PM
How could I have missed this beautiful set in one day. Please tell me I can still get it.
Shirley
Posted by: Shirley | February 18, 2007 at 09:24 PM
Xie Xie for this lovely kit and for taking the trouble to find a new place to host it!
We are celebrating New Year hear in California also, but without nearly as much company. We did set off firecrackers last night and I'm sure woke up half the neighborhood, as it echoed around our canyon. It feels like such a luxury this year that it falls on the second day of a 3 day weekend, so we have the Eve and first 2 days off!
Posted by: Andrea | February 18, 2007 at 11:07 PM
I have missed this beautiful kit, so sorry! Will you upload your link?
Posted by: Sandrine | February 19, 2007 at 01:26 AM
Seems to be a wonderful kit.
Same wish as others: please reniew the link.
Posted by: T | February 19, 2007 at 05:32 AM