Gong Xi Fa Cai - Finding the Perfect Chinese New Year Cards

In its way, Chinese New Year is no different from the New Year celebrated on January 1 by so much of the rest of the world. It is time of well wishes and love. People hope for good fortune, happiness, health, and wealth for the coming year. A lot of people offer these good wishes by sending their loved ones Chinese New Year cards.

This is a common practice no matter what your culture is or when your new year celebration takes place. You want the people you love to know you are thinking of them. You want them to know that you are wishing them well.

When choosing a card to send someone for the Chinese New Year you have a veritable wealth of fantastic cards from which to choose. It all depends on your relationship to the recipient. Sending New Years cards to friends and loved ones is a time honored tradition.

The same is true for those who celebrate Chinese New Year. Of course, with the advent of ecards and holiday greetings sent through the Internet, they are becoming immeasurably more possible. The only real difference here is the style and sentiment of the cards in question.

Many cards celebrating the Chinese New Year are decorated with the things you see during the two week celebrations associated with the holiday. For example, both paper cards and electronic cards often incorporate fireworks displays. These are common practice during Chinese New Year, which is why such cards are so popular.

Dragons, Chinese characters, and the symbolic foods popular during Chinese New Year also make for great greeting card designs. Basically, any type of design which is special to you and/or your family will provide just the right sentiment.

If all else fails, you should always feel free to design a card of your own. You can even include your own hand written fortunes and well wishes, which provide an extra, personal touch to the whole affair. This can be ideal, and it certainly presents you with a way to show your loved ones exactly how you feel.

Henry Fong

Feng Shui Consultant.

Feng Shui Absolutely

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Henry_Fong

Read More..

Chinese New Year Bingo Cards

Chinese New Year, also known as "Spring Festival", is the most important of traditional Chinese holidays. The holiday is widely celebrated in China itself, and throughout East Asia. Additionally, increasingly Chinese New Year is increasingly marked in the West, both within the Chinese community, and by people interested in Chinese culture and traditions.

The traditional Chinese calendar is lunisolar (incorporating both elements of lunar and solar cycles to calculate dates), consequently the date of Chinese New Year varies from year to year when translated into the Western Gregorian calendar. Chinese New Year begins on the first day of the first lunar month of the Chinese calendar, and continues until the 15th of that month, which is known as the "Lantern festival". In the Gregorian calendar, that equates to a 15 day period beginning sometime between January 21st and February 20th.

There are a variety of traditions associated with Chinese New Year. These include the wearing of new clothes, displaying decorations (especially red decorations), the giving of red envelopes (containing money) by elders to children and juniors, and visits to relatives and friends ("new-year visits"). Additionally, many overseas Chinese travel home to have reunion dinners with their families on Chinese New Year's Eve.

With so many gatherings and families and friends, Chinese New Year is also an opportunity for performing group activities. Additionally, with the increasing prominence of Chinese New Year in the West, the occasion is also an excellent opportunity for teachers to introduce their students to Chinese culture through classroom activities. Whether with friends, family, or in the classroom, one such activity that is worth considering is Chinese New Year bingo.

Bingo is a fun game, that virtually everybody knows how to play. However, if somebody doesn't know how to play, there's no reason to worry - anybody can learn the game in just a few minutes. Of course, if you're playing bingo at Chinese New Year, it's more fun if you can get into the spirit of things by using bingo cards printed with items related to Chinese New Year, rather than using traditional numbered bingo cards. The easiest way to get such special bingo cards is to print them using your computer - you can download some bingo card maker software and print as many as you want. The coolest thing is that once you have the software, you can use it each year, or to print specially themed bingo cards for other events, occasions and holidays.

By S. Tanna. To create and print your own custom Bingo Cards, please go to http://www.bingocardprinter.com/ - bingo card maker software! Download a free trial to see for yourself.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sunil_Tanna

Read More..

8 Chinese New Year Food Symbols for Happiness, Prosperity and Health

"Lucky" Chinese New Year symbols are an important part of
celebrating the Spring Festival.

Afterall, it is the start of spring -- a perfect time to
have your New Year wishes come true!

And what better way to usher in happiness, prosperity and
health than to enjoy "auspicious food" with family and
friends?

Here are the Top 8 auspicious food symbols for Chinese New
Year.

Top 8 Auspicious Food Symbols for Chinese New
Year

1. Hot Pot

A steaming hot pot (or chinese fondue) with meat, seafood
and vegetables) is a must.

Huo3 in hot pot huo3 guo3 火锅 is the same word as huo3 in
hong2 huo3 红火 “prosperous and booming”.

2. Fish

Another must-have dish if you want to experience abundance
in the new year.

Fish yu2 鱼 is the most popular dish served during Chinese
New Year.

In Chinese fish has the same sound as “surplus” and
“abundance” 余.

A whole fish is served on Chinese New Year’s eve for the
reunion dinner.

Usually the fish is steamed.

It is a good omen to leave the bones and head and tail
intact.

This symbolizes surplus/abundance and a good beginning and
end in the new year.

Best served whole.

3. Shrimp

Shrimp xia1 虾 in Mandarin and ha in Cantonese sounds
like someone laughing.

Eat shrimp for happiness and well-being.

4. Boiled dumplings

A Chinese New Year tradition is eating boiled dumplings.

These are shaped like gold ingots.

Dumplings jiao3 zi 饺子 sounds like jiao1 zi3 交子which
means the hour of transition into the New Year.

Hence, in northern China, dumplings filled with meat are
eaten on Chinese New Year’s eve to usher in good luck and
wealth in the New Year.

Sometimes a coin is placed in one of the dumplings. Whoever
bites on it will have plenty of wealth in the new year.

When dumplings and yellow noodles are cooked together they
mean “golden threads through gold ingots”.

In the eastern cities of China, like Shanghai, Hangzhou and
Suzhou, egg dumplings are eaten as they look like gold
ingots.

5. Oyster

Hao2 sounds like hao3 shi4 好事 which means “good
things”.

In southern China, it is served with thin rice
noodles.

6. Green vegetables

For close family ties, serve some greens.

Qing1 cai4 青菜 sounds like qing1 亲 as in qin1 re 亲热 mea
ning “close/intimate”

7. Sticky rice cake

Nian2 gao1 年糕.

Nian2 means year and cake gao1 sounds the
same as high gao1 高.

So eating this steamed cake made of rice flour and topped
with red dates has the meaning of attaining greater
prosperity and rank in the new year.

8. Noodles

Known as chang2 shou4 mian4 长寿面 meaning "longevity
noodles".

A wish for good fortune -- Good Luck, Prosperity, Longevity,
Happiness and Abundance -- is central to the Chinese way of
life.

Even more so during Chinese New Year!

For more auspicious Chinese food symbols and DIY Chinese recipes, visit www.living-chinese-symbols.com.

Want to discover the culture of Chinese symbols and characters and enhance your life? LIOW Kah Joon is your guide. Read his Chinese New Year Special and sign up for his free monthly Chinese Symbols ezine at Living Chinese Symbols.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kah_Joon_Liow

Read More..