Discover the Magic: Top 12 Fun Facts About Chinese New Year You Never Knew!

1. Buddha's Delight: 18-Ingredient Mixtape

If Arhat's an 18-party and Buddha's the DJ: Chinese New Year celebrations feature a scrumptious vegetarian dish called Buddha's Delight, which includes 18 different ingredients to represent the 18 saints of Buddhism known as Arhats. This mixtape of flavors typically features bean curd sheet, cabbage, mung bean noodles, wood ear fungus, and dry shiitake mushrooms, along with other tasty components like bamboo shoots, lotus seeds, and gingko nuts, all determined by the cook's preference and availability of ingredients.
Source => tasteasianfood.com

2. Forbidden Fire and Knives on New Year's Day

Want to avoid bad luck and keep your ancestors smiling? Just hold the knife and fire, baby!: During Chinese New Year, it is customary to prepare food beforehand and stash away sharp utensils like knives or scissors, as using them on New Year's Day is considered bad luck and disrespectful to the departed souls.
Source => nationsonline.org

Did you know Vietnamese New Year, or Tết, is a 6-day extravaganza celebrated between late January and mid-February? Discover the vibrant traditions and scrumptious dishes that make this festive season so special! 🎉🥢

=> Fun Facts about Vietnamese-New-Year

3. No Cleaning, No Sweeping—At Least for a Day!

Don't "sweep" away your chances for success this Chinese New Year – literally!: Refrain from using a broom or cleaning on the first day of the Lunar New Year, as it's believed to sweep away good luck that has entered your home – tidy up before New Year's Eve, and let the dust bunnies rest until the second day to ensure a prosperous year ahead.
Source => cnn.com

4. 15-Day Chinese New Year Extravaganza

Step aside, New Year's Eve hangover: Chinese New Year's got you beat with a marathon of rituals and festivities that span a whopping 15 days! Seriously though: Chinese New Year is an extensive celebration, filled with traditions such as ancestral offerings, family visits, and consuming delicious, symbolic foods. The merriment reaches its peak on the 15th day with the Lantern Festival - a vibrant spectacle featuring brilliantly colored lanterns and mouthwatering glutinous rice dumplings. The event not only brings laughter and joy but also bears immense cultural and historical significance for the Chinese people.
Source => nationsonline.org

5. Lucky Coin Dumplings: A Delicious Game of Chance

Feeling a bit "dumpling" for good luck?: During Chinese New Year's Eve, families in North China traditionally make dumplings, hiding a coin inside some of them as a symbol of wealth, prosperity, and good luck for the coming year. If you find the coin, you're considered extra lucky – but don't count on it for lottery wins!
Source => issaquahhighlands.com

6. Fireworks: Adios, Evil Spirits!

Fireworks and firecrackers are like confetti for the soul during Chinese New Year, with each loud pop bidding adieu to evil spirits in the most festive way possible: This time-honored tradition of setting off pyrotechnics is considered essential for enhancing the celebratory mood, but has also led to many Chinese cities imposing bans or restrictions on their use for safety and environmental reasons.
Source => chinahighlights.com

7. Chunyun: The Mother of All Family Reunions

Call it the world's largest game of musical chairs: when the Chinese New Year sneaks up, everyone in China scrambles to find their way back home — at almost the same time. Suddenly, the nation is a dance floor for 3 billion trips between January 21 and March 1: In this phenomenal jig called "Chunyun," 73 million trips are made by air, 2.46 billion by automobile, and 413 million by rail, a whopping 8.3% more than last year, all while making use of impressive tech like facial recognition software and ticketless travel, all to accommodate a gigantic family reunion!
Source => cnn.com

8. Red Envelopes: Cash or ChocoCoins, But No Odd Amounts!

If your wallet's feeling lucky, it’s time for some red hot action: Chinese New Year customs include giving red envelopes, called "Lai See," filled with even amounts of cash or chocolate coins, as a way to ensure good luck and health in the coming year—just don't go giving odd amounts, as that's reserved for funerals!
Source => prestigeonline.com

9. Taste the Prosperity with Citrus Fruits

Feeling fruity and prosperous? You know what they say: when life hands you oranges, tangerines, kumquats, and pomelos, celebrate Chinese New Year! The serious reveal: These particular fruits symbolize prosperity and good fortune, making them popular gifts and treats during the festivities, delighting taste buds with their sweet and tangy flavors.
Source => seriouseats.com

10. Mandarin Oranges: Peeling Back Fortune's Zest

Peeling back the zest of prosperity: Mandarin oranges, with their delightful color and rotund shape, are given as gifts during the Chinese New Year to shower loved ones in an avalanche of wealth and luck – because in Cantonese, their name sounds like "gold"!
Source => fishwise.org

11. Lion Dance: Furry Feline Festivities

Lions and tic-tacs and dances, oh my! When Chinese New Year rolls around, you can bet your last wonton that there are some exciting feline shenanigans taking place: The lion dance, a tradition dating back to the Three Kingdoms Period, features two performers dressed as a lion, bringing good luck and prosperity with their nimble moves. Coming in both southern and northern styles, this dance showcases the lion's power, wisdom, and superiority, while also spreading Chinese folk culture worldwide like a scrumptious, cultural dim sum.
Source => chinahighlights.com

12. Moonwalking Panda: Chinese New Year's Lunar Dance

The Chinese New Year's arrival shimmies and shakes to the lunar rhythm, sliding onto the calendar with all the grace of a moonwalking panda: It always occurs on the second new moon after the winter solstice on December 21, leaving behind the pitiful predictability of the Gregorian calendar, and basking in the moon's cosmic sway.
Source => lammuseum.wfu.edu