Chinese New Year Traditions Anyone Can Celebrate

On Tuesday, February 5th, China will be welcoming the start of the new Lunar Year, The Year of The Earth Pig! Similar to Japan’s New Year celebration, the Chinese New Year involves over a week of preparations and traditions. During this time, celebrations center around the idea of renewal and generating good luck and positivity for the upcoming year, which is why in China it’s known as the "Spring Festival"—although most of China is still deep in winter, the festival anticipates and celebrates the approaching spring.

If you would like to honor the Lunar New Year and welcome a sense of renewal to a seemingly endless winter, here are five customs you can incorporate into the start of your February:

1.  Refresh Your Home

Before the New Year, it’s customary to thoroughly clean your home to symbolize sweeping away any lingering bad luck from the previous year. Be careful, though: put away all the brooms and mops on New Year day, unless you want to accidentally sweep away all the New Year’s good luck as well!

2. Refresh Your Life

If you have any outstanding loans or any grudges and arguments from the past year, now is the time to reconcile! Anything that happens during the first few weeks of the New Year is considered a prediction of the rest of your year, so before February 5th, you should have paid back your debts and made

3. Lucky Oranges

China has several symbols of good new year fortune, and oranges is one of them. This means that Prafeuille Chocolat Orange must be the luckiest ROYCE’ Chocolate!

4. Hong Bao

Hong bao are traditional red envelopes containing money that are given during the New Year season to children, unmarried adults, and elders. Sometimes employers will also give hong bao to employees as well, regardless of age. In the modern age, hong bao can be sent virtually, or can include chocolate coins in place of money for younger children.

5. Connect with Others

Most importantly, the Chinese New Year is a time for connecting with family and friends. Close-knit families will enjoy a large feast together on New Year’s Eve, then the rest of the holiday is dedicated to sharing the celebration with other people, such as friends and colleagues. It’s customary to bring gifts such as tea, fruits, or sweets such as chocolate, of course!

Introduce your friends and family to these traditions with a gift of ROYCE’ Chocolate on Chinese New Year’s Day! Find a ROYCE’ Chocolate boutique near you or order online today.