CHINA

Fast Facts

• Official Name: People´s Republic of China

• Capital: Beijing

• Biggest City: Shanghai

• First Made in China: Paper, fireworks, kites, yo-yos, the abacus, playing cards.

Money• The official currency of China is the yuan. 1

yuan is worth about 15 cents in U.S. dollars. Or $1.00 is about 7 yuan.

Chinese New Year• The Lunar New Year, also called the

Spring Festival, is the most important holiday for the Chinese people everywhere.

• New Year's Day usually falls on the day of the second new moon

• The New Year is celebrated with firecrackers, dragon dances and visits to friends and family. It lasts for 15 days and ends with the Lantern Festival.

Year of the Rabbit• The Chinese zodiac is based on a 12-

year cycle with each year represented by an animal. February 3, 2011 marks the start of the Year of the Rabbit.

• People born in the Year of the Rabbit are said to be articulate, talented, and ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste.

Customs• The entire house should be cleaned

before New Year's Day. Sweeping or dusting should not be done on New Year's Day otherwise good fortune will be swept away.

.

• Sharp objects should be put away otherwise they will “cut” the luck.

• All men and boys should get a haircut.

• Families paste scrolls of lucky sayings on their front doors. These are called “chun lian”

• A symbol of “Spring” is often hung upside down over the door. It means “Spring has arrived”

• On New Year’s day itself the whole family sits down to have a huge dinner together.

• An important dish is steamed dumplings. The dumplings are shaped like gold ingots and symbolize wealth.

• Lotus seeds “ 莲子 lianzi” represent having many sons

• Ginkgo nuts 白果 “ baiguo” represent silver ingots or wealth.

• Dishes with Black moss seaweed “facai” 发菜 are popular because the word sounds like facái 发财 “ to become wealthy”.

• Bamboo shoots 竹笋 zhusun and dried beancurd 豆腐干 doufugan are other foods that have lucky connotations.

• A kind of sticky rice cake called “nian gao” is also popular. It symbolizes the wish for “yearly advancement”.

• Pomelos, kumquats and oranges symbolize

good luck and prosperity and are often given as gifts on Chinese new year.

• Children receive gifts of lucky money called “hong bao” 红包

• As they receive it they say things like,Gonxi Facai, hongbao na lai!

Shooting off firecrackers on New Year's Eve is the Chinese way of sending out the old year and welcoming in the New Year. On the stroke of midnight on New Year's Eve, every door in the house, and even windows, have to be open to allow the old year to go out.

• Red clothing is preferred on New Year’s Day. Red is considered a bright, happy color, sure to bring the wearer a sunny and bright future

• In Chinatown you can see the lively dragon and lion dances

The traditional Lion Dance is performed with two people in a lion’s costume. It is accompanied by drums, gongs and cymbals.

Click to see a lion dance

In a Dragon Dance, a team of people carry the dragon on poles.

Click here to see a Chinese New Year dragon dance

• The Chinese new year celebrations end on the 15th day of the first moon with the Lantern Festival 元宵节 Yuan Xiao Jie.

• On this day brightly lit lanterns are paraded through the streets.

• And floated upon the water

• Many lanterns have riddles hidden in them.

• People eat a kind of sweet dessert called 元宵 yuánxiao.

Go to this site to learn a Chinese New Year Song:

GongXi Fa Cai– Chinese New Year Song