Happy Chinese New Year to all, tomorrow - February 16th (2018 for any of you time travellers out there) will be the start of 'The Year of the Dog', as you are probably aware the Chinese Zodiac rotates on a 12 year cycle and people born in the following years are from the year of the dog: 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006 and this year 2018!
While I was at my favourite sleepy mall near my condo in Bangkok and yes it is actually quiet at this place!(Which is a godsend in craziness of The City of Angels) I stumbled across some colourful Chinese Lanterns, which had been put in place especially for 'The Year of the Dog', so I couldn't resist getting a few snaps with my ropey smartphone camera! Which in turn sparked the catalyst to find out a little more about Chinese New Year.
The 16th will say good bye to the current 'Year of the Cock/Rooster' and hello to 'Year of the Dog'. According to the zodiac, members born on this 12th year are known to be sincere, loyal, independent and great communicators.
The Chinese New Year utilises the Gregorian Calendar and each year the Lunar New Year will fall between January 21st and February 20th.
To celebrate the festival families will have fireworks displays ,and watch traditional dragon dances which are believed to eradicate bad luck . At my school today we had some dragons come to school dance and perform for the children. The festival is pretty important in Thailand, as there is a influential Chinese presence in Bangkok with many Chinese settlers arriving as early as the 19th Century. Thailand has a huge Chinese population, who make up over 12% of countries people.
Red is a hugely important colour during the New Year, it is believed to bring good luck and you will see this colour heavily present for decorating, dressing up and for 'Ang Paos'. All of my children at school today dressed up in red, or traditional Chinese outfits, which looked pretty cool to be fair!
Ang Pao is a red envelope with money in which is passed on from married couples and the elderly to unmarried people and children. The amount of money will be of an even denomination, as odd numbers are given during a funeral! Eight is seen as lucky due to it being a homophone for lucky. The worst number to get is four, it is the homophone for death!!! The money in the envelopes is supposed to fend away evil spirits!! To bring further luck the envelopes are put under the receivers pillow for one week and slept on and then finally opened! Not sure if I would be able to sleep on a nice stash of cash for 7 days, I wonder if there are any crypto enthusiasts giving their children crypto coins!
In addition to the red envelopes, gifts are often exchanged, three of the most popular are oranges, pears and moon cakes! As with the unlucky numbers there are certain items which should not be given as gifts, such as clocks and watches which represent time running out! Chrysanthemums and black and white items are a big no no, due to their representation at funerals!
I almost forgot the food! What would any decent festival be without food. During the fifteen days that the new year is celebrated a range of feasts will be prepared for friends and families to share. There are specific foods which will bring good luck to you, they believe fish brings prosperity, dumplings and spring rolls bring you wealth, sweet rice balls bring family togetherness, oranges and pears bring fullness and wealth, glutinous rice brings a higher salary or position, noodles bring health and longevity!
Well, I hope you enjoyed my lantern shots and gained some new knowledge about 'The Year of the Dog'.
Thank you so much for checking out my post, if you enjoyed this and would like to see more photos and travels in Thailand feel free to swing by my page when you have a moment free.
Peace Out Steemians
Never stop exploring!
Credits
http://www.aljazeera.com/
https://en.wikipedia.org
https://www.chinahighlights.com/