Tag Archives: Chinese New Year

Christmas vs Chinese New Year

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I love Christmas as a religious and cultural event. To be honest, I even prefer it to the Chinese New Year.

1) Greetings: Peace vs Money

At Christmas time, the greetings are generally ‘Merry Christmas’ or a ‘Happy New Year.’ People also wish you joy, peace and harmony. However, one of the most common greetings for the Chinese New Year is 恭喜发财 － ‘gōngxǐ fācái’ (or in Cantonese, Gong Hei Fat Choi). It means ‘Wishing you Wealth’. Many more Chinese New Year expressions are related to ‘money and prosperity’. Many Chinese New Year songs are all about ‘gōngxǐ fācái’, and ‘the god of wealth has arrived’. Money is important and the concept of wealth is so ingrained in the Chinese psyche.

2) Atmosphere: Calmness vs Bustling with noise and excitement

I’ve experienced Christmas as a calm and peaceful festival. However, the Chinese New Year is always bustling with noise and excitement, in or outside of your house. There is an expression in Chinese called 热闹 rènào, which is impossible to translate into English, as there is no such concept in the English language. 热闹 rènào can be vaguely translated as ‘bustling with joy, noise and excitement; heat and boisterous’. Deborah Fallows, in her fabulous book, Dreaming in Chinese, described 热闹 rènào is ‘the default mode of Chinese social life’. The Chinese way of life is not about your personal space, it’s all about ‘togetherness’. If I try to use one word to summarise my Chinese New Year experiences, the word would be ‘noise’.

Harvard Linguist Deborah Fallows with her insights into Chinese culture

3) Gifts: Continue reading →

The only Chinese word you ever need to learn

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I made these Chinese New Year cards early this year. The main colour is, of course, red.

For Chinese, red is the symbol of fortune and prosperity. Older people prefer red more than the youngsters, of course. During the Chinese New Year, red is the only colour.

Always red. If you try to be cool or being different by wearing black or white during the Chinese New Year, you’ll get told off by your mum.

I made these Chinese New Year cards

I later asked my son to write 福 （fú) –Happiness — on small cards, and attached them onto the cards. The cards instantly looked more stunning. I’m so proud of Ben.

Happiness -  福 （fú）on Chinese New Year cards

If you only ever learn ONE Chinese word in your life, then this is the word to learn: 福 （fú) –Happiness. Why? Continue reading →