A look at the Chinese New Year - the year of the rat
Today marks the start of the Chinese New Year. It is also known as the Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival. 2008 is the Year of the Rat.
Chinese New Year’s Eve is known as ChúxÄ« (除夕). Chu literally means “change” and xi means “Eve”. Chinese New Year starts on the first day of the new year containing a new moon and ends on the Lantern Festival fourteen days later.
The Chinese New Year celebrations are marked by visits to relatives and friends, which is a practice commonly known as “new-year visits.” New clothing is usually worn to signify a new year. And you will see that the color red is used liberally in all decorations for the new year.
Red packets are given to juniors and children by the married and elders. These packets typically contain money in certain numbers that reflect good luck and honorability. The amount of money in the red packets should be of even numbers, as odd numbers are associated with cash given during funerals. Since the number 4 is considered bad luck, because the word for four is a homophone for death, money in the red envelopes never adds up to $4. However, the number 8 is considered lucky as it is a homophone for “wealth.” As a result, $8 is commonly found in the red envelopes. Sometimes you will also find chocolate coins in the red packets – especially for children. Odd and even numbers are determined by the first digit, rather than the last. For example, thirty and fifty are considered to be odd numbers and therefore are appropriate as funeral cash gifts not new year gifts.
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