As exciting for the Chinese as the equivalent is for us, the new year is nearly upon us.
Whilst new years back in the motherland signals an excuse to go out an party extravagantly and be blessed with the next day off as holiday to recover, here in Hk and mainland (and not forgetting other Chinese inhabited nations nearby) it is a time most commonly spent as rest time with relatives.

Cny, or spring festival, or lunar new year are the many guises under which it operates. It consists of 3days public holiday, with many companies extending the holiday period to a week. Signaling the biggest migration out of the city ever witnessed. Suitcases are packed, flights are booked and sunny shores are reached in order to take advantage of the extremely rare opportunity for time off.

Eager as I know you all are for information of the Chinese variety, here is a quick summary of the essential cny bite size facts:

1. Orange trees, equivalent in presence as xmas trees during December. A cny focal point is luck, and the golden fruits of the miniature mandarin, tangerine or kumquat trees are considered lucky because the word kumquat sounds like gold in Cantonese. (Was recently informed today that due to artificial fertilizers not to eat the fruit as there is a worm infestation... mmm!)

2. Kung Hei Fat Choi! is Cantonese for “Congratulations and be prosperous.” and is the standard greeting during new years.

3. Lucky Money (lai see), contained in Red Pockets is the gift seeked by children and singletons (married ppl non eligible) from their elders and bosses. The handing out of red pockets is considered to bring both the giver and receiver good luck.

4. Red lanterns are a decorative staple item. In fact, red in general is the colour of choice due to its lucky connotations in Chinese culture. Lucky fish, fake firecrackers (as invented by the Chinese),candy trays known as 'the tray of togetherness', and paper dragons (all in red of course) are other festival accessories seen in shopping malls and homes across the land. Also seen is an explosion of flowers, but only those ones that have names that sound similar to the word 'lucky' or 'luck' in Chinese !

5. The year of the.... we are just leaving the Rat behind and next up is the year of the Ox. Apparently: People born in the Year of the Ox are patient, speak little, and inspire confidence in others. They tend, however, to be eccentric, and bigoted, and they anger easily.

Much Lucky Love to one and all
Tx