Happy Chinese New Year! 中国新年快乐
The Explore Traveler Team would like to wish all our friends in Taiwan, throughout Asia, and the world over a Happy Chinese New Year! 中国新年快乐 Asians all over the world welcome, The Year of the Red Fire Monkey.
Grab the bananas and let’s celebrate. The Year of the Fire Red Monkey has arrived. This is the longest festival of the Asian world. Sometimes called the Spring Festival, it begins this year on February 8th, 2016 and lasts for 15 days. This marks the beginning of the Spring Planting time. Depending on where you live, this is the time when the earth begins to thaw and seeds are ready to be put in the ground.
As we welcome in the Year of the Red Fire Monkey, we look forward to a prosperous and good year. The year 4714 has arrived. Come and let’s celebrate. Friends and family will visit. Special holiday foods are prepared. The long dreary winter season has ended. Spring has arrived. This is a time of new beginnings.
The New Year’s festivities begin on New Year’s Eve. Homes have been cleaned, businesses are spotless. This is a special time when everyone leaves their urban homes and returns to their family homes in the country. This amazing festival that will continue for fifteen days. This is a time to reunite with friends and family. Together they will welcome in the Year of the Fire Red Monkey. More Asians travel home on New Years than any other time in the year. Millions of people the world over will make their way home. This is a time when friends and families come together. It is a time that families unite and together they welcome in the New Year.
Taiwanese Are Off To A Sweet Start
No celebration is complete without the sweet tantalizing candies. The children are ecstatic as they have been waiting and watching. Anticipation is in the air! This is a time they have been waiting for. The Year of the Fire Red Monkey has finally arrived. Taiwan is alive with activity! Come and let us celebrate!
Red is the color of choice, both for decorations and clothes. Red is believed to keep away the many evil spirits. Everywhere you go, you will see red paper lanterns and people will be dressed in their best red finery. The children and the young adults will receive red envelopes filled with money. There is not a child that does not wait with delight as they are given out. New Years has arrived. It is time to celebrate!
Like all the festivals of Asia, food is at the center of the celebration. There are many traditional foods that symbolize different things. You will see long uncut noodles on every table. These noodles represent a long life. Whole chickens in the center symbolize family togetherness. Wealth and prosperity are symbolized by dumplings that look like an ancient Chinese dollar. Even the traditional spring-roll resemble gold. Everything that is done has a meaning!
So as the Asian world is celebrating this week, the Explore Traveler Team wishes you a Happy and Prosperous New Year! We join you in welcoming, The Year Of The Red Fire Monkey!
