Happy Chinese New Year - From Taiwan to Palos Verdes by Christine Williams
Happy Chinese New Year -
From Taiwan to Palos Verdes by Christine Williams
CHINESE NEW YEAR IN TAWAN
Chinese New Year is the most important Holiday of the year in Taiwan! The date is January 1st, but it must go by the Lunar Calendar, thus this year is February 12th on the Western Calendar! The year of Ox!
The year of Ox!
As I can recall, the celebrations usually go on for 15 days, some companies would give their employees 7-14 days off for uniting and celebrating with their family!
The extravaganzas of the New Year feasts usually last for several days starting the New Year's Eve! Regardless of rich or poor, in every household there will be an abundance of Chinese & Taiwanese food, bags of oranges, special New Year rice cakes and candies for the visitors. Talking about the visitors, on the first 2 days, the family members, relatives, and good friends are supposed to visit and greet each other throughout the day with big smiles and lucky words!
Taipei-101 Building with Fireworks
Photographer: Lee Williams
Everyone must wear new clothes and shoes during the first several days of the New Year, and only positive words are encouraged to be spoken; otherwise it will be considered as a bad luck for the rest of the year. If some kids accidentally deliver negative words, their arms or legs could be pinched by their embarrassed parents. had seen those funny moments taken places when I was a child!
However, the children usually are delighted during the Lunar New Year since they are supposed to get new clothing and Hong Bow (紅包 - Red Envelopes, containing cash) from their parents, plus some generous relatives and close family friends. It is the best time of the year for the children in Taiwan.
Nowadays due to the endless store sales and promotions for the Holidays, and Taiwan's wealth, the Chinese New Year in Taiwan is also heavenly for adults! My husband Lee and I usually travel to Taiwan once or twice a year to visit my sister Ting and her lovely family, we have watched many Chinese New Year fireworks together, and always impressed by the spectacular firework display at the Taipei-101 which was once the tallest building in the world!
You may want to consider adding this awesome event to your Bucket List!
Fun times and great memories with my Sisters in Taiwan
L to R: Author, Lee-Hua, Lee and my little Sister Lee-Ting
My sister Ting passed away suddenly a year ago! Fortunately, my very kind Brother-in-Law and my two Nephews still include Lee & me in their family, so we will continue to travel back to Taiwan and watch the beautiful fireworks with them, and with my sister "In the Sky with Diamonds"!
CHINESE NEW YEAR IN PALOS VERDES
Fast forward, from the year of 2000 to 2015, my husband Lee & I had traveled and lived around the world - In the countries like Indonesia, China, Kuwait & Saudi Arabia.......
In 2015, Lee and I made a very bold move of choosing a place where we did not know a single person as our permanent location! -- The beautiful Palos Verdes Peninsula!
Knowing that the Asian population in Palos Verdes was about 25-30%, in the first two years living in PV I googled but could not find any parties or festivals for the Chinese New Year. After several months of searching around on the Internet, I finally found the contact info for the Golden Cove Palos Verdes Chinese Alliance! I then bought two tickets for the 2018 Chinese New Year Eve Party at Trump National.
There were many courses for the New Year's Eve banquet, which was highlighted with beautiful Chinese music. The Grand Ball Room was decorated with colorful traditional Chinese ornaments and artifacts, and the nearly 300 guests were happily greeted by the Lion Dancing team! Unexpectedly, the sensational traditional Chinese dancing and variety shows went on for two hours! Well worth our money!
Our RPV Mayor at that time, Susan Brooks, gave us a very entertaining speech and showed us a few dance steps that surely energized the crowd and woke up the sleepy lions! It was a culturally rich and an exciting night to remember! Every guest went home with a Hong Bow (Red Envelope) containing prizes and gift vouchers! So fun!
What a well organized group! Lucky us in Palos Verdes! Unfortunately, I have not seen or run into the leaders of the Golden Cove Palos Verdes Chinese Alliance since the 2018 party! My Asian loving friends, my hubby & I have been celebrating Chinese New Year together in Palos Verdes since 2017, and we are so looking forward to a 2022 Chinese New Year Party in Palos Verdes!
I hope the leaders or family members of the FCPVCA group is reading this article!
Since we will miss our Chinese New Year celebration this year due to the Covid, we will also be looking forward to celebrating the following Chinese Holidays this year in Palos Verdes:
June 14-16 - Dragon Boat Festival (端午節)
Sep 21st - Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋節)
A CRASH COURSE
Here is a crash course for you:
If you ever want to make yourself popular with the Chinese speaking people, here are two greeting phrases that you may use during the Chinese New Year:
Gong She Fa Tsai (恭喜發財) - Congratulations and Make a lot of Fortune!
Noe: If you think this phrase is so shallow (talking about money), then wait till you try this second one...
Hong Bow Na Lai (紅包拿來) - Hand me the Red Envelope!
Note: Your Chinese friend will have a good laugh (playing with the words - the last 2 letters in the last word in both phrases are pronounced "I"), especially funnier if you reach your right hand out to pretend to accept the Hong Bow! -- It is a little Chinese humous play during the Chinese New Year!
Hey! Gong She Fa Tsai ! What is your reply?
Born and raised in Taiwan, Christine Williams relocated to the United States to attend graduate school where she studied graphic arts and psychology. There she worked in the medical industry, the arts, and computer industries. Christine has always had an interest in finance and is a private investor. In Taiwan Christine enjoyed a music career, some modeling, poetry contests and TV commercials. None of it though was enough to keep her from moving to the United States where she had dreamed living for years. Christine is a life long learner and keeps expanding her interests. Fortunately she met her husband Lee in the US and they happily reside in Palos Verdes. She can be reached at: bidearwls91@hotmail.com