Chinese New Year began this year on January 31st and is normally celebrated for fifteen days. This year is the Year of the Horse.
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| Chun (春)-The Chinese character for Spring |
Chinese New Year, also known in China as the Spring Festival or Chun Jie (春节) is one of those holidays that most Americans know very little about. That's why I chose to ask two of my friends, Amy Yan and Yixuan Xu to provide a brief, yet clearer picture of how they spend this holiday celebrated by over 1.3 billion of the world's population. Take a look at how these two celebrated and what they wish Americans knew most about the Chinese New Year.
I asked each of these natives of China questions regarding the Spring Festival. You can find my questions and their answers below.
Amy Yan:
I met Amy during my Junior year of high school. A native of Beijing, China, Amy is currently a Junior in college and shares with us her special take on Chinese New Year.
SPENCER: How did you celebrate Chinese New Year this year, year of the horse?
AMY: For Chinese New Year I invited some friends over and cooked some food and made hotpot.
SPENCER: What is your favorite thing to do during Chinese New Year?
Amy: Getting together with friends and watching yearly CCTV shows
SPENCER: Do you have any New Year aspirations?
AMY: For New Year aspirations I hope that I can put more focus and effort into my life.
SPENCER: What is one thing you wish Americans would understand about the Chinese New Year?
AMY: I hope they think Chinese New Year is fun and cool too.
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Yixuan Xu: Yixuan is the cousin of one of my good friends from college. I met him just a couple of months ago while I was studying in China. He was very helpful with showing me great restaurants around Beijing and taking me to the famous Old Summer Palace (Yuan Ming Yuan), which is a beautiful park in Beijing. Here is what Yixuan has to share with us about the holiday:
SPENCER: How do you celebrate Chinese New Year?
YIXUAN: In my family our celebrations of Spring Festival is common and direct. We have lunch and dinner with our direct relative on Chinese New Year's Eve and wish everybody to have a great new year. After that day, we'll go visit our other relative. As the elder one, they need to present the "red packet" which install some money to teenagers and children. The money inside we called Ya Sui Money. As for myself, I prefer to take more time celebrating with my friend.
SPENCER: When New Year celebrations are all over, what is the biggest thing on people's minds? What is everyone thinking about next?
YIXUAN: I think the biggest thing after celebrations is to have a rest, because everybody must be tired after a long, exhausting celebration.
SPENCER: Do you have anything you wish to do differently in the Year of the Horse?
YIXUAN: I have a lot of things to do in the year of the horse such as learning English well, making a different in my job, having some trip with good friends in some good place. But do you know this year is my Ben Ming Year? It's the year which have the same animal representative with the year I was born. According to legend, people will have a tough day in Ben Ming year, so the best wish in this year I wish is to have a healthy and peaceful year.
SPENCER: What is one thing you would love for Americans to understand about Chinese New Year?
YIXUAN: I would love for Americans to know that Spring Festival is like the Christmas in America. It's the most important festival in China.
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Thank you Amy Yan and Yixuan Xu for contributing to this quick interview!
Jia You (Keep Going!)
Spencer Alise
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| The cake I had for Chinese New Year- Yum! |
