By Xinyi Li, Xingchen Yue, iChongqing
You may not know that the Chinese New Year changes the date every year, and you may not know how Chongqing people celebrate the Chinese New Year in Chongqing, either. However, these answers will reach you today. Afterward, you can greet Chinese New Year as a Chongqing-born one.
Chinese New Year, also known as the Chinese Spring Festival, has a different date each year. It is because a significant festival is celebrated according to the Lunar Calendar. Meanwhile, Chinese New Year has different representative animals each year, and we call them Chinese zodiac. According to the order of Chinese zodiac, 2019 is the year of pig, which is quite lovely.
How people prepare for the new year
Currently, Chongqing is busy welcoming the new year. The old generation usually does some traditional handicrafts to greet the important festival for family reunion. For example, some senior people will do paper-cutting and then stick it to the window, expelling bad things away.
Moreover, families will clean the house before the new year. It means the family can all the dust from the past year. Besides, adversity of the past year will also leave the house. Furthermore, families will enshrine Zao Wangye (stove god) for harvest in the coming year.
A big meal for the family reunion
In China, families will meet to eat a big dinner on New Year’s Eve. Before the dinner, people will go shopping to get some new year products, such as unique Chongqing food. Sausages are an indispensable ingredient in every family’s meal. With different taste from other regions, Chongqing has a salty, spicy, and numbing flavor. In Chongqing, people love the spicy numbing flavor rather than sweet sausages.
Tangyuan is another special food in Chongqing, which is a glutinous rice ball. It also has another name of sycee, which people eat sycee for fortune, and will keep the fortune.
There is another important thing for children after the meal. Family members and children are presented with red envelopes, filled with lucky money. Additionally, it represents the symbol of wealth and health.