Chinese new year

Last year I finally had a chance to participate in a real chinese new year. Living outside Asia, all we ever hear about chinese new year is the transportation chaos when millions of people try to get home for new year. It is not quite like that in Taiwan, but it is still chaotic and much different than the rest of the year.

The central point of the new year, is to no big surprise, the meal that family gather to have. In my family Wens brother was the host of this dinner. Normally it is the responsability of the parents, but when they die, this is passed on to the oldest son.

The whole family gather and go through a number of traditions, much like the x-mas in Denmark. The first thing to do, is to give the meal to the Gods. This is done at the family alter, which is placed at the highest floor.

All dishes are unpacked and placed at the alter. Then the whole family is gathered around the alter and we pray. This is done in much the same way as done in the temple. After the praying, it is time to burn paper money. This is done at the terrase next to the alter. We are talking about millions of paper dollars, a wast donation to the after life.

After this has finished, the food is carried to the dining room and we have a huge dinner. Chinese people are happy about food, but new years dinner is special, and so is the meal.

After the meal, we gathered with other families and had a karaoke event. Naturally all the songs are in chinese, so I only listened. As in Denmark the quality of the singers vary a lot, but the enthusiasm and sound volume is at max for evverybody. I discovered, that Wens brother and his wife are quite good!



Later when children have gone to bed, the Mah Jong starts. Mah Jong is a chinese board game, that is very complicated. It is also very serious gambling, and it is told, that many people have lost their entire estate at the Mah Jong table - in my family, this year, we only play for fun and petty cash. This does however not change the attitude in the game.

All this is going on, to help people stay up all night as this will give your parent a long life. Once the sun is up, you must go to your door, upon up and shout Gong Xi Fa Cai to the world to ensure your own luck as well.

The first day after new year, everybody needs to go to the temple to pray for the luck of the new year. The temples are always full it seems in Taiwan, but this day the temples are packed.

A very important tradition of the Cinese new year is the Hong Bao, red money, which are red envelopes with money that you give to the kids. At least they are very interested in this part...