Page 3 - BACGG CNY Traditions Flipbook 01262021

o Young Garlic cloves with leaves – good with numbers and personal
finances
o Sugar Cane with leaves – sweet life
o Two fish – abundance and plentiful.
o Lettuce – making money
o Arrow Roots – benevolence and growing the family
o Chinese Celery with leaves – diligence
o Carrots with leaves – gold
• None of this food is wasted, for example the fish would be served at the New
Year’s Eve reunion dinner to represent abundance.

The following activities requires planning in advance to complete before the end of day
on New Year’s Eve, February 11, 2021. The first 3 activities are the most important, and
may take more than one week to complete:

• Pay off debts to not carry forward the burdens of the past. Same with past
quarrels, try to resolve before yearend.
• Clean house to clear out any bad luck and be ready to welcome good luck for
the new year. This is the one time of the year to do a more complete cleaning.
• Get your haircut by February 11, 2021, or wait till after February 28, 2021.
• Buy a new outfit for the new year. The weeks leading up to the new year is the
busiest time for retailers in Asia. Focus on the color red for children.
• Prepare foods for your New Year’s Eve Family Reunion dinner to close out the
old year. Be safe and only gather with folks in your household or plan a Zoom
meeting to share dinner with others.
• Do not bathe or wash your hair on the first day of Chinese New Year.

• New Year Lucky papers are auspicious and good wishes
for the New Year. Often you see couplets or Chinese
characters in red and gold outside the front entrances of
houses or businesses. You can purchase these lucky
papers at Chinese Markets before the new year. “Fook” and
“Fu” means good luck or fortune is often placed upside
down, because in Chinese sounds like to arrive, implying
luck or fortune has arrived.

• Firecrackers sounds are believed to scare away the bad spirits and welcome
good things to happen. (Caution your city may not allow burning of firecrackers)

• Decorate with Fresh Flowers and Oranges and Tangerines – favorite flowers
to display are the quince branches with un-open
blossoms. When the blossoms open, we will have good
luck. Any pink or red flowers would be great. Secondly,
display a plate of oranges, or tangerines with a Lai See
placed between two or more oranges, but never four.

• Prepare Chinese New Year gifts and Lai See Red Envelopes for family,
friends and children. Use new currency for the Lai See. Plan in advance to order
new currency at your bank. Always present gifts and Lai See with both hands to
show respect to the person you are presenting to.

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