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January 26th marks the beginning of the Year of the Ox! Celebrate by throwing a Chinese New Year party. Here are some festive ideas, courtesy of Celebrations.com. For more, be sure to check out their Theme Party ideas page.
The Tradition of Red Envelopes
Chinese children eagerly await the opening of red envelopes or red pockets, which are elaborate red envelopes that hold money. They’re meant to scare away bad spirits and wish the children prosperity in their future. You can usually find them at Chinese banks, convenience stores and supermarkets. Fill them with either chocolate coins or money and give them to the younger generation in your family, or pass them out to friends.
Food & Drink
For Chinese New Year, there are some very particular and special things you should eat. If you don’t have time to cook these things, there’s always Chinese take-out!
- Steamed Fish – This is an extremely traditional Chinese dish. Make it with a soy-scallion sauce. It goes well with white rice. Typically, the Chinese eat a big yellowtail fish on the eve of Chinese New Year, but don’t finish it because then there will be no surplus for the New Year. In Chinese, the word for “fish” is “yu,” which also means “surplus.”
- Fortune Cookies – Not really found in China, but get them for fun!
- Nian Gao – This sticky rice cake is eaten every New Year. It’s actually very difficult to make, but you can always buy it at a Chinese bakery. For kids, eating it symbolizes growth in height; for adults, eating it symbolizes a promotion in the coming year.
- Dumplings – Fried or water dumplings are both great choices for a Chinese New Year party. For a fun New Year tradition, add either one red date (symbolizing fertility and new births) or one coin (symbolizing prosperity) to a couple of the dumplings. Whoever gets a dumpling with either of these things has good luck for the New Year!
- Tea - Tea is a great choice for your Chinese New Year party. You can serve hot jasmine, chrysanthemum, or green tea. For cold drinks, try going to a Chinese supermarket to find a classic sweet chrysanthemum drink or cold barley tea.
Decorations
Decorations are an important part of any party, but this is especially true for a Chinese celebration, where everything symbolizes something.
If you want to use flowers for this event, keep these particular flowers in mind when creating your arrangements and bouquets:
- Peach blossoms – Symbolize luck
- Kumquats – Symbolize prosperity
- Chrysanthemum – Symbolize longevity
- Water narcissus – These usually bloom around the New Year, so get some. If they bloom on New Year’s Day, you’ll have years of good luck.
Also, use the color red! Don’t be shy with using red colors everywhere. Try out these options to make your party extra lucky:
- Wear red clothing. Tell your guests to wear red if they can, too.
- Hang red streamers from the ceiling.
- Check out these great food picks from Amazon
! So cute, they are only 6 inches high, but the dragon expands out to almost two feet. Fun!
