Chinese New Year Facts and Trivia

First things first. Here's how to greet your Chinese friends, relatives in Chinese. (Copy and paste the text below)

恭喜发财! 新年快乐!

If you want it to be less serious, add: 红包拿来 in the end. It means that you are asking for a red envelope hehe.

Facts and trivia from the top of my mind



"Kung Hei Fat Choi" is the cantonese way of greeting people during Chinese New Year. This means -- Congratulations and be prosperous. It doesn't mean "Happy New Year"
"Kiong Hee Huat Chai" is the Fookien version.
"Gong Xi Fa Cai" is the Mandarin version.


image from CCHP

Happy New Year in Fookien is "Sin Ni Kuai Lok"
Mandarin - "Xin Nian Kuai Le"

"Tikoy" is also a cantonese word -- as we know and as we all call it - in fact "Tikoy" is "Glutinous Rice Cake" in english.
"Ti-ke" is how to say it in Fookien.
"Nian Gao" is what they call it in Mainland China.

More TIKOY trivia:
-It is not true that eating "Tikoy" with molds (Amag, in Filipino) is better! This is how the "OLD" Chinese people fooled people into buying their old stocks of "Tikoy" just so it would not go to waste. This trivia is from an educated man in his 60's that I know.

-It is okay to eat "Tikoy" directly EVEN without cooking it. In fact, that is the original way of eating it.

-There is no such thing as a "Sugar Free" "Tikoy" because as we all know, rice = sugar. It might not literally contain sugar but, rice has glucose. In short,

"Tikoy" is NOT OKAY to be eaten by diabetics.

-In Hong Kong, you would pay triple - quadruple for haircut services as Chinese New Year draws nearer. Explanation: Getting a hair-cut in the first lunar month puts a curse on maternal uncles. Therefore, people get a hair-cut before the New Year's Eve.

"Ang Pao" (Fookien) or "Hong Bao" (Mandarin) Trivia:
Per custom, the amount of money in the red packets should be of even numbers, as odd numbers are associated with cash given during funerals (帛金 : Bai Jin). The number 8 is considered lucky (for its homophone for "wealth").

Odd and even numbers are determined by the first digit, rather than the last. Thirty and fifty, for example, are odd numbers, and are thus appropriate as funeral cash gifts. However, it is common and quite acceptable to have cash gifts in a red packet using a single bank note – with ten or fifty yuan bills used frequently.

Good luck and Bad luck (c/o wikipedia)*

Good luck

• Opening windows and/or doors is considered to bring in the good luck of the new year.
• Switching on the lights for the night is considered good luck to 'scare away' ghosts and spirits of misfortune that may compromise the luck and fortune of the new year.
• Sweets are eaten to ensure the consumer a "sweet" year.
• It is important to have the house completely clean from top to bottom before New Year's Day for good luck in the coming year. (however, as explained below, cleaning the house on or after New Year's Day is frowned upon)
• Some believe that what happens on the first day of the new year reflects the rest of the year to come. Chinese people will often gamble at the beginning of the year, hoping to get luck and prosperity.
• Wearing a new pair of slippers that is bought before the new year, because it means to step on the people who gossip about you.
• The night before the new year, bathe yourself in pomelo leaves and some say that you will be healthy for the rest of the new year.
• Changing different things in the house such as blankets, clothes, mattress covers etc. is also a well respected tradition in terms of cleaning the house in preparation for the new year.

Bad luck

• Buying a pair of shoes is considered bad luck amongst some Chinese. The character for "shoe" (鞋) is a homophone for the character 諧/谐, which means "rough" in Cantonese; in Mandarin it is also a homophone for the character for "evil" (邪).
• Getting a hair-cut in the first lunar month puts a curse on maternal uncles. Therefore, people get a hair-cut before the New Year's Eve.
• Washing your hair is also considered to be washing away one's own luck (although modern hygienic concerns take precedence over this tradition)
• Sweeping the floor is usually forbidden on the first day, as it will sweep away the good fortune and luck for the new year.
• Saying words like "finished" and "gone" is inauspicious on the New Year, so sometimes people would avoid these words by saying "I have completed eating my meal" rather than say "I have finished my meal."
• Talking about death is inappropriate for the first few days of Chinese New Year, as it is considered inauspicious.
• Buying (or reading) books is bad luck because the character for "book" (書/书) is a homonym to the character for "lose" (輸/输).
• Avoid clothes in black and white, as black is a symbol of bad luck, and white is a traditional Chinese funeral colour.
• Foul language is inappropriate during the Chinese New Year.
• Offering anything in fours, as the number four (四), pronounced sì, can sound like "death" (死), pronounced sĭ, in Chinese. Pronunciations given here are for Mandarin, but the two words are also homophones in Cantonese. See tetraphobia.
• Also you should never buy a clock for someone or for yourself because, a clock in Chinese tradition means your life is limited or "the end" which is also forbidden
• Avoid medicine and medicine related activities (at least on the first day) as it will give a bad fortune on your health and lessen the luck you can obtain from New Years

The image above, is an inverted chinese character. It means "Luck". it is inverted on purpose because they believe that inverting it would make it easier for the "Chinese Gods" to read it.

You know something not included? Share it in the comment section below :)

*Disclaimer: I don't believe that doing the above mentioned acts will really cause you to have good luck or bad luck. These are just here as FYI from what the people before believed in. I'm a Christian.