Although there is currently some controversy on whether to call the (approximately February) lunar holiday Asian New Year, Lunar New Year, or something else, I have made the editorial decision to call it Chinese New Year because I am only presenting Chinese perspective, not discussing the holiday as it is celebrated in other cultures. ~Leilehua Yuen
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Hi! So the first day of this Lunar New Year just passed, and I’m in a happy mood so I wanted to share the stories and traditions I learnt because it’s so so much more than just the zodiac. I’m from the southern part of China but is all mixed up because I grew up less south, so there’s a bunch of mishmash in here! I know there are many versions, I’ve defs seen diff ones on wiki as well! In Mandarin, it’s called 春节 (chun jie) or spring festival and I was always taught that spring begins after this
1- The Origin Story: why we dress in red and have fireworks
Once upon a time, there was a dragon/monster/beast named 年 (nian, or year) who terrorised this village at the same time every year. So they would hide to stop being terrorised. One year, a hero told them not to go. He decorated the town in red and put gunpowder in bamboo, making an early version of fireworks. Nian was afraid of the colour red and loud noises, and he was successfully scared away. So that’s why we wear red and have fireworks! We scare the evil spirits away 
(smile emoji)
2- The Chinese Zodiac: how the order came to be
Once upon a time, the Jade Emperor decided host a race so that the first 12 animals which finished the race would have the years named after them. The Ox (this year!) prepared well ahead of time and started the night before. The rat, seeing this, jumped into his saddle bags and had a nice nap whilst the ox journeyed on. The race had many hurdles: brambles for the big animals, desert for the small, a raging river to finish it all. The ox persevered and just as he was about to cross the finish line, the rat awoke and jumped out of his saddle bag, hence why he is first! Now why isn’t the cat on the 12 animals? The rat and the cat used to be very good friends, but our dear friend rat decided to trick the cat, telling him that the race was one day earlier! So when the cat showed up at the finish line, seeing no one else, he thought he had won and went home to nap. When he found out about the rat’s trickery, he became extremely angry and that is why cats hate rats to this day!
Another story is that Buddha was departing the earth and invited all the animals to bid him farewell, but only these 12 came, so he decided to thank them by putting them in the years!
We also have 5 elements—water, fire, earth, wood, metal, and this year is the metal ox. My zodiac is accurate but combined with my element is MUCH more accurate and specific! So your 60th birthday is especially auspicious, because it is both your element and your zodiac! Also fun fact: we don’t differentiate between mice and rats in Chinese!
3- 福 and why it’s sometimes upside down
The word 福 (fu) means luck, and we frequently put it up on our doors to invite luck in. One day, a man angered a god, and as the god left, he turned his 福 sign upside down to mark him for later. The gods wife, the goddess, felt sorry for the man, and went and turned everyone else’s sign in the village upside down to save him! So we turn it upside down to mark ourselves for the goddess. But also, ‘福 upside down’ in mando (fudaole) is exactly the same phonetically as ‘福 has arrived’ (fudaole), which is another origin story.
4- 红包 (hong bao) or laisee (idk how to write it): red pocket money
We 拜年 (bai nian, kind of like the verb form of well wishes?) to our elders for some red pocket money. We get this until we get married. We also get 红包 for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, getting into uni, etc. Some families open it up immediately but we put it under our pillows until the 15th; it’s called 压岁钱 (ya sui qian). I don’t really know why lol, but it’s probably another homophone as ‘ya sui qian’ sounds like ‘squished to bits money’. Opening the money earlier is unlucky.
some common 拜年
恭喜发财 (gong xi fa cai): probably the most common one, also known as ‘kung hey fat choi’ as pronounced in canto. means ‘wishing you good fortune’
身体健康 (shen ti jian kang): wishing you good health. It’s also what I was taught to sign all my letters off with.
出入平安 (chu ru ping an): wishing you peace in your house and out
年年有余 (nian nian you yu): wishing you surplus every year. because the last word is phonetically same as fish, we eat fish and sometimes replace the word with a fish lol.
学业进步 (xue ye jing bu): wishing you progress well in your studies
老少平安 (lao shao ping an): wishing elders and children have peace
5- The fifth day of the new year: welcoming the god of wealth back
Technically speaking, I think every day of the 15 has some activities you’re meant to do. My family isn’t particularly traditional, so I only learnt about the fifth day: the god of wealth’s birthday. In China, it’s pretty much impossible to go the fifth day without hearing some fireworks, because loud noises attract the god of wealth (smile emoji)
6- 元宵节 (yuan xiao jie), day 15
day 15 is the first full moon of the new year. it’s also called lantern festival. We celebrate it by (allegedly, as I don’t think we’ve ever successfully completed it lol) having a family feast or a 团圆 (tuan yuan). As I lived away from my extended family, we made sure to at least have a nuclear family feast. We eat 汤圆, glutinous rice flour balls filled with red bean or sesame paste, either in soup or water, as a dessert. they represent the moon. I’ve been told that that we eat round things and gather on a round table to represent a full, unbroken family (smile emoji) Finally, we solve riddles. I think they’re most similar to garden path sentences or pun type riddles, but it’s been many many years since I’ve had one to solve. It’s just a really fun time and so beautiful
7- other practices: wear red (obviously) but also new clothes! to symbolise prosperity in the coming year. don’t sweep your floors, or you’ll sweep the luck out! sweet dishes (candied fruits, nuts, etc.) in sets of 8, as 8 is an auspicious number. It’s not actually a southern Chinese tradition but it was a tradition where I grew up, so I make hundreds of dumplings as well.
~Art by Leilehua Yuen