The Chinese are really passionate about their New Year celebrations, which are also known as the Spring Festival as well as the Lunar New Year because it is based on the Chinese lunisolar calendar. The festival begins on the first day of the year, and the celebrations go on till the 15th day, which is the date for the Lantern Festival. The whole festival is a great combination of colors, lights, myths and traditions. The Chinese light up candles which they place on shelving or along the roadsides, and also decorate their homes with them. The Chinese also display red colored greeting cards on their wire shelving to keep up with the traditions of their ancient ancestors.
Chinese myth has it that a mythical beast would arrive to the earth on the first day of the New Year, and it will eat up all the livestock, crops and the villagers viciously. The beast known as the Nien has a special desire to eat up children from the village which originated this myth. So in order to protect themselves, the villagers put up food in front of their doors. They believed that the beast will not come for them once its hunger is curbed. Later, people eventually started to believe that the creature is afraid of the color red, so the villagers hung lanterns that were red in color. This became a tradition, and every time the New Year arrived, the Chinese placed lanterns and new spring scrolls on windows and doors.
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These lanterns can, however, be easily mixed with the ones hung in the Mid Autumn Festival. New Year lanterns are the traditional Chinese paper lanterns that have a distinct red color and tend to be oval in shape. They are hung from the roof on the 15th day of the Chinese New Year.
Aside from the lantern festival, another unique part of this festival is the dragon and the lion dance. It is believed that aggressive dancing of lions and dragons along with the loud beats of the drum can scare away the evil spirits among us.
Every aspect of the Chinese decoration symbolizes something. It depicts food like a Koi fish which is usually very rare and can only be seen in paintings. A decoration with this fish leaves an aura of good will. It indicates surplus and success.
The Chinese culture is a rich society in which gifts are exchanged, and homes, roads and marketplaces are decorated. These 15-day long Chinese festivals offer some superstitious and cultural believes that are quite puzzling for those who don't celebrate this festival. As you know, most of the Chinese decorations in this festival are centered on red; likewise they hang red diamond-shaped posters in the house and especially on the doors. The poster has a character known as pinyin which is hung upside down. Hanging this character symbolizes the arrival of luck, happiness and prosperity.
The Chinese have a rich and diverse culture which is instilled with myths and symbolism, and it is these myths and symbols that you will see during their New Year festivities.