Chinese New Year Taboos and Superstitions: 18 Things You Should Not Do

  • Avoid taking medicine. …
  • Don’t sweep or take out garbage. …
  • No unlucky words. …
  • Don’t eat porridge and meat for breakfast. …
  • Avoid washing hair and getting a haircut. …
  • Don’t wash clothes. …
  • Needlework should not be done. …
  • Don’t use scissors or knives.

subsequently What is a good luck gift for Chinese New Year? Fruit baskets are a common and proper gift for your Chinese hosts, and they can be found in many large shops. Giving a box of oranges or a box of apples is also recommended because apples and oranges respectively symbolize safety and fortune.

What should you do on Chinese New Year? Rituals and Customs to Celebrate Chinese New Year

  • Catch up with family and friends.
  • Hang Door Gods pictures.
  • Brighten up with some colour.
  • Share the wealth with loved ones.
  • Watch a traditional dance or fireworks show.
  • Clear out last year’s clutter and splurge on new threads.
  • Chow down on festive treats.
  • Visit a LNY market.

as well What do you eat on the first day of Chinese New Year? The most common Chinese New Year foods include dumplings, fish, spring rolls, and niangao. We’ve rounded up 7 essential Chinese, or Lunar, New Year dishes, and included the symbolism behind them all.

What color should you not wear on Chinese New Year?

You Must Not Wear Black

Everyone loves the colour black because it flatters most body shapes. Unfortunately, it is a colour that you must never wear during the new year because black is typically worn during funerals. The colour has been associated with death, depression and all sorts of inauspicious things!

Is eating chicken bad luck on New Years? Be sure to hold on to this year’s good luck by avoiding eating chicken, turkey, and other winged fowl. Another good reason to not eat chicken or turkey on New Year’s Day is because these creatures scratch backward in the dirt, which is thought to symbolize dwelling on your past and preventing progress in the New Year.

identically Why do Chinese eat dumplings on New Year? Dumplings are often eaten on the New Year’s Eve for its Chinese name ‘jiaozi’ has a meaning of changing of years. … – symbol of wealth for its shape like an ancient Chinese gold ingot. – Lucky coins will be hidden in dumplings and someone who discovers them can get the best of luck and great wealth in the coming year.

What do oranges mean in Chinese New Year? The words for tangerine and orange in Chinese resemble the words for luck and success, respectively. Their bright color also symbolizes gold, hence the fruits have a meaning of bringing good luck and wealth.

What should you not do on the first day of Chinese New Year?

Do not lend or borrow anything on the first day of lunar January, especially money. Lending money is an unlucky omen, which means economical loss, so people should not offend friends or neighbors by borrowing something from them. Asking for return of debts owed is also a Chinese New Year taboo.

Is it bad luck to shower on New Year’s day? If for any reason a gift is to be given this day, leave it in a car or out building New Year’s Eve. — Some cultures believe one should not wash his or her hair on New Year’s Day because it will wash away the good fortune of that person.

Can you wash your hair on New Year’s day?

Clean the house before New Year if you don’t want to wash away your fortunes. No cutting hair, fingernails or other things during the first few days. Washing hair on the first day is also not a good idea.

What should I cook for new year’s Day? Greens, pork, and cornbread, as well as black-eyed peas, cowpeas, or beans, are some of the typical symbolic foods served on New Year’s Day. When planning your dinner menu, add the Southern foods that some say bring good luck and avoid those that may do just the opposite in the new year.

What should I prepare for New Years Eve?

11 New Year’s Foods For Good Luck

  • of 11. Black Eyed Peas, Greens, and Cornbread: Pennies, Dollars, and Gold. …
  • of 11. Pork: Progress. …
  • of 11. Grapes: Good Luck for 12 Months Ahead. …
  • of 11. Pomegranate: Fertility, Life, and Abundance. …
  • of 11. Fish: Abundance. …
  • of 11. Noodles: Longevity. …
  • of 11. Rice: Fertility & Wealth. …
  • of 11.

Should you do laundry on new year’s Day?

Don’t do laundry on New Year’s Day, or a member of the family will be washed away (i.e., die) during the coming year. … Doing laundry on New Year’s Day will wash a year of good fortune down the drain. Don’t do laundry on New Year’s Day, or you will have more laundry than usual to do all year.

Why do you eat fish on Chinese New Year? Fish. In Chinese fish is yú 鱼, the pronunciation of it sounds same to abundant or surplus in Chinese. So fish symbolizes of abundance. Eating fish during Chinese New Year time symbolizes having an abundant year ahead in the coming year.

Is shrimp good luck for New Year? If you want seafood other than fish, shrimp, clams, mussels, squid, and oysters are all good choices as New Year’s Lucky foods.

What decorations are used on Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year Decorations

  • Chinese Lanterns. …
  • Chinese Firecrackers. …
  • Paper cuttings. …
  • Door Couplets. …
  • Upside down Fuk (福) …
  • Red Pockets. …
  • Kumquat Trees, Oranges and Mandarin Trees. …
  • Cherry and Plum Blossoms and Orchids.

What Chinese food is not eaten on New Year’s Day? To ensure an auspicious New Year, there are specific dishes that most families tend to avoid. Man says they never order squash. “Because squash, or gwa, sounds like death,” he says. Squid and crab are also foods to stay away from.

How much money do you put in a red envelope for Chinese New Year?

A token amount around $10 is appropriate. Giving a red envelope to your parents is a sign of respect, a gesture pointing back to longstanding notions of filial piety. Make the gift generous, between $50 and $100, and expect to receive a red envelope in return, symbolizing your parents’ blessings for you.

Which fruit represents luck and prosperity? Oranges and Other Citrus

The Chinese words for “orange” and “tangerine” closely resemble the words for “luck” and “wealth.” The gold color of these fruits also symbolizes prosperity.

Is it bad luck to work Chinese New Year?

When Chinese New Year’s Day comes, they take a day or days off from work and also don’t do housework. It’s considered unlucky to do work and chores on the first day of the year as it symbolizes going through hardships through the year.

When can you cut your hair after Chinese New Year? Wash or cut your hair

Leave your hair as it is on the first day of the New Year. The Chinese character for hair is the same first character in the word for prosper. This means washing or cutting it off is seen as washing your fortune away and dramatically reduces chances of prosperity in the year ahead.

Do you say Lunar or Chinese New Year?

The correct translation of the name of the holiday that has been celebrated for thousands of years in various eastern and southeastern Asian countries, in addition to China, is “Lunar New Year.” For thousands of years, the Chinese called, and still call, Lunar New Year’s Day chunjie (“spring festival”).

Should you do laundry on new year’s Eve? Get your laundry wash, dried, folded and put away by New Year’s Eve. This is a no-brainer, but you should make sure to have food in your cupboard before midnight. Think of it as an insurance policy — if you have food on hand, you’ll continue to have food throughout the year, according to tradition.

What shouldn’t you do on new year’s Day?

Do not take anything out of the house on New Year’s Day.

Absolutely nothing should be taken outside of the house. … Clear away your New Year’s Eve garbage before the stroke of midnight so you aren’t caught with a pile of trash that you can’t do anything with on New Year’s Day.

What should you not eat on new year’s day?

What NOT To Eat On New Year’s Day

  • Poultry & Winged Fowl. You should avoid eating anything with wings on New Year’s Day because it is believed your good luck will “fly away” with your meal. …
  • Lobster, Shrimp & Crab. …
  • Bottom-Feeding Fish. …
  • White-Colored Foods. …
  • Short Noodles. …
  • Keep Leftovers. …
  • Don’t Pass the Knife.