My First Chinese New Year in Hong Kong (January 2020)

The legend of Nian is the basis of Chinese New Year. The legend goes that a big monster named Nian lived at the bottom of the sea. Once every year at midnight on Chinese New Year Nian came out of hiding to eat villagers, crops, and livestock and would destroy the village in the process. The villagers would put up red lanterns and scrolls because the beast was afraid of the color red. The beast was also afraid of loud noises, so the villagers detonated firecrackers to scare it off. They also fed the beast a sticky rice cake so the beast couldn’t open its mouth to eat the villagers.

In modern days, we still keep many of the traditions alive. For example, we decorate the house with red for Chinese New Year. Some rural places still detonate firecrackers to celebrate Chinese New Year with loud noises. A lot of major cities have laws against using firecrackers, so instead, they will have big firework displays. Another popular way of celebrating Chinese New Year is lion dancing. The lion is supposed to be Nian, and the firecrackers and red decorations make it a reenactment of the legend. The lion is formed by two people with a decorative blanket over them, and the music consists of a drum and cymbals.

My favorite tradition is definitely getting Chinese New Year money. The younger generations give the older generations presents to thank them for all that they have done, and in return, they give the kids lai see, which are red envelopes with money inside.

The idea is that it would protect the children from getting eaten by Nian.

What kind of food you eat is an important part of Chinese New Year too. Different food has different special meanings. We still eat nian gao, which is sticky rice cakes from the legend. It has the auspicious meaning of getting taller or better in the new year.

If you eat Fat Choi (black veggies that look like hair), it means to get rich or easy money. If you eat pig’s tongue, it means lots of luck. If you eat pig’s knuckle, it means easy wealth. If you eat celery, it means you will work hard. If you eat whole steamed fish, it means surplus every year because you leave a little bit of meat on the fish.

If you eat dried oysters, it means that good things will happen. If you eat lettuce, it means an increase of wealth. If you eat rice cakes, it means bigger everything. If you eat roast pork, it means that you will be lucky because of its red skin. If you eat chicken, it means that you will be lucky this year. If you eat tangerines, it also means that you will be lucky this year. If you eat pomelo, it means that you will have lots of prosperity this year. If you eat dumplings, it means you will have lots of wealth this year. As you can see, you need to be able to eat a lot on Chinese New Year, so you must undergo intense training to turn your stomach into a bottomless pit.

The most important aspect of Chinese New Year is about togetherness and visiting with family and friends.

We had a big reunion dinner on Chinese New Year’s Eve.

Traditionally, you eat at the most senior member of the family’s house. It is kind of like Thanksgiving. I’ve had lots of fun playing with my cousins. While we bond over board games in America, people here gamble, sing karaoke and play video games.

Many families gamble on Chinese New Year because it is supposed to bring you luck. It is also a good bonding experience. A favorite on Chinese New Year is Tin Gau. I really enjoyed playing Tin Gau. Tin Gau is a Chinese gambling game that is often played on Chinese New Year. Tin Gau is the name of the game because the top two tiles you can have are Tin, which means Heaven, and Gau, which means 9. It is also called Chinese Dominoes, but if you assume it is as easy as regular dominoes, then you will lose every single time. It is a hard game, and the reason is that you have to be able to recognize 21 different tiles that all are made of dots and are not in numerical order. It is like Chinese Poker but harder.

I had a lot of fun here during Chinese New Year. I hope I can come back here again to celebrate because of the sheer amount of money I made!