Prelude
Quite literally, Xīn nián kuài lè (pronounced Shin Nian Kwai L) would mean ‘Happy New Year’ in Chinese. Well I wanted to keep that as the title for my story, but for the sake of wider audience chose the title – Happy New Year.
Typically a Chinese New Year greeting would be Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái, (pronounced Gong She Fa Tsai) which means ‘Best wishes, wishing you prosperity and wealth.’
A Chinese New Year (also popularly called the Spring Festival) unlike an English Calendar Year does not fall on the first of January. Usually, it falls between end-January and mid-February and is calculated based on Lunar cycles. For example, in 2020 it fell on the Twenty-Fifth of January. In 2021 it fell on the Twelfth of February.
The celebrations of a Chinese New Year are fifteen days long and end on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, with a Lantern Festival. The most traditional of all Chinese festivals, it has a long history of thousands of years.
The Chinese give Red Envelopes – often containing money and gifts – to the children and family members, friends and employees
I am not an expert on Chinese traditions and have gathered some of it from my friends and my travels. But the one thing I am certain of, the Chinese New Year is all about family.
I have taken liberties with the subject for my story.
I do hope you like the story, it has a lot of heart.
– enjoy
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