Sunday, February 10, 2013

Chinese New Year and Spring Festival 2013

On the 10 February 2013, as the tail end of the dragon is seen trailing out, the water snake slithers in to herald the year of the Snake. It is the sixth animal of the Chinese zodiac.
 
A hissssssssy welcome to the kitchen by a friendly red snake. According to the ancient Chinese, a Snake in the house is a good omen because it symbolises a cornucopia of abundance for the household.


Ornaments for the festival usually have connotations of good fortune, good health, longevity, peace and prosperity.  The fish 'yu' for example denotes abundance. For the farmer, it would indicate a bountiful harvest. For married couples, they hope to have lots of progenies to populate the earth :)


Nian kau, a form of glutinous rice cake is traditionally offered to the kitchen God so that he would give a good report of the household or to seal his mouth if the report is negative :) Its yummy when sandwiched between a slice of yam and sweet potato, then fried to a crisp. Goes well with Chinese tea or kopi-O.


I remember eating Honey-comb cookies made by mum when I was a child.



A selection of traditional cookies
  
Topmost: egg roll (love letter) and spicy shrimp rolls
From 3 o'clock, clockwise: pineapple, chocolate-nut, butter-potato, green pea and peanut butter cookies.



Mandarin oranges (kam) is the homonym of gold in Chinese so is the most ubiquitous fruit around. It is one of the most popular gift to relatives, friends and business associates. The pomelo is used in a highly celebrated tossed-up salad dish 'yu sheng' which is frequently served on the seventh day or Man's day.

Green bottle gourd,  (Lagenaria siceraria) known as 葫芦 (hulu) in Chinese is a highly regarded fruit as it signifies happiness and wealth. In the olden days the dried gourds were used as flasks for water or wine. This one here has an image of a fish etched into it with a blowtorch. The fish image symbolises surplus or abundance.



 
  Plum blossoms (梅花) are traditionally symbolic of Chinese New Year as it is quintessentially spring.


A layered paper cut-out of colourful peonies for the door.



The leaves of the Draco are ornamented with tiny fake gold ingots.

Adenium obseum is another auspicious plant. Somehow at this time of the year all eight of my Adeniums are blooming.


A eight-foot tall braided Pachira aka money tree placed at the entrance and gilded lanterns ...

light up the driveway by night.





This is the Chinese character for snake. On the ang pow (a red envelope for placing money to be given away to children, family members or staff) packet from CIMB, is a stylised calligraphy of the character for snake.

 
These prosperity-cat ang pow packets are from my parents. Originally from the Japanese creature, 'Maneki Neko', it is now widely adopted by the Chinese as the 'Zhao Cai Miao' or Beckoning Prosperity Cat.

Tasha getting in the mood for Chinese New Year and Spring Festival. She is seen here in a pose of the Beckoning Prosperity Dog. Tasha joins us in wishing all Chinese, and friends who celebrate the Spring festival with these felicitation:

"Wan Shi Ru Yi" meaning “May all your wishes be fulfilled”
 

26 comments:

  1. Hi Stiletto
    Happy chinese new year to u & family...how i miss mandarin oranges..kacang pagoda and angpow..hehehe..hope u & family will have more prosperous new yr..:))

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    1. Thank you Ummu for your warm wishes all the way from Fiji. This year's mandarin oranges are sweeter than last year's. This year I'm going crazy over the shandong peanuts with garlic by Camel brand. So yummy with Kopi-O.

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  2. Such intense imagery and vivid colours, just the way to decorate a celebration!

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    1. Other than the soft pastel colours from pussy willows, plum blossoms, peonies and some varieties of chrysanthemums, Chinese New Year is associated with strong vibrant colours.

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  3. Happy Chinese New Year to you! I love hearing about other cultures and customs, fascinating to hear about what goes into celebrating Chinese New Year - and especially all the food :-) Thanks for sharing.

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    1. Thanks Helene. The food served is as varied as ever. I'm too busy stuffing myself to take photos :)

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  4. Beautiful colorful post!

    Have a great St.Valentine's Day!

    xoxo, Juliana | PJ’ Happies :) | PJ’ Ecoproject

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    1. Thanks Juliana. Happy Valentine's Day to you too! Your chocolate heart admist a whirl of psychedelic colours makes me head for the fridge right away.

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  5. Hi I am a bit late here, but better late than never, Kung Hei Fat Choi for you and your family. Since i am always at the My Nice Garden Chat where most members are Malaysian Chinese, i am very much aware of the festivities and preparations for this. But I didn't know that a snake is good for the house. You have a big house and lovely plants....Lastly, Happy Valentine's Day.

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    1. Thanks Andrea. Btw "Kung Hei Fatt Choi" is the Cantonese version for "Gong Xi Fa Cai" which is the Mandarin or Putonghua (Beijing) version. Happy Valentine's Day to you too.

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  6. Happy Chinese New Year and Valentine's Day, Stiletto!

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    1. Thanks Satu and Happy Valentine's Day to you too.

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  7. 新年好!恭喜發財! Actually I speak Cantonese because I used to live in Hong Kong for many years. Snake year is not considered a good one for some reason, but with those beautiful flowers to keep you happy I think your year will be great~

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    1. Hi Adam, thanks for the good wishes. I'm impressed with your Chinese. You manage to get the old characters correct! If you can speak Cantonese well, it's even more impressive. Chinese which includes Mandarin and Cantonese is one of the most difficult language to learn for a non-native. It is a very tonal language. If you get the intonation wrong, the meaning is completely different or totally unintelligible.

      And I haven't even started lamenting on the written form. Its a nightmare remembering all those strokes. Fortunately, they have come out with the simpler version and also the anglicised 'han yu pin ying'.

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  8. Have a Prosperous Chinese New Year Stiletto.
    Truly your presentation and decor looks so marvelous and beautiful.
    Really enjoy the way you decorated them beautifully.

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    1. Thanks James for the New Year greetings and also all those kind words. You are most gracious.

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  9. Excellent tutorial for me Stiletto to know the meaning of animals and ornaments on your new year. You have painstakingly decorated your house beautifully, I'd say. May this be a good year for you and your family :)

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    1. Thank you Ash. When we were younger, we always take things like culture and tradition for granted. We even thought of them as irksome,ritualistic and old-wifey. Now, mellowed with age, as we learn of the background and history behind the tradition, we begin to appreciate them better.

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  10. To miłe poznać Wasz zwyczaje związne z Nowym Rokiem. Życzę żeby był on dla Ciebie szczęśiwy. Pozdrawiam.
    It's nice to know your habits in the New Year. I wish that he was happy for you. Yours.

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  11. Chinese food and decorations are always so colourful, quite a treat for the eyes.

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    1. Since red and gold are auspicious colours, naturally the look and feel is bright and vivid. Can be a bit strong for the eyes.

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  12. Gong Xi Fa Cai! All the best wishes for a wonderful year of the Snake!

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    1. Gong Xi Fa Cai and Wan Shi Ru Yi to you. I hope that the Water Snake can slither in with lots of good fortune and peace for all of us. We can do away with all the conflicts and warfare.

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  13. Thanks for showing us how you celebrate and decorate the house on Chinese New Year. Your red snake is so cute! Actually seeing a real snake, even in a photo, gives me creeps, but hearing about a snake or snake paintings or designs is no problem at all to me. I remember as a child I heard my grandparents talking about a snake living in the roof-space in their country house. Thanks to it, there were no rats. Tasha is so lovely! She must be a real “maneki inu.”

    My second and third granddaughter is going to be born into the year of snake. I hope they’ll be blessed with the luck of water snake.

    Yoko

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    1. Thanks for teaching me about “maneki inu”. It seems like Tasha knows that the raised paw is a good gesture to emulate. I'm so glad for you. Your grandaughters will have the good attributes of those born in the year of the snake - wisdom, charm and diplomacy are some of them.

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