“What Chinese New Year Means to Me!”

The Spring Festival is the most important traditional festival in China. As a British international school in China, we have a special relationship with both western and Chinese traditional festivals. Having just recently celebrated a long and successful Christmas festive season, the halls of the College were quickly transformed into a sea of red: adorned with traditional Chinese motives, symbols of luck and good wishes as we prepare to usher in the Year of the Tiger.

The History and Traditions of the Spring Festival
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Spring Festival, which is also commonly known as the Lunar New Year or Chinese New Year, has evolved significantly from its ancient origins dating back roughly 4,000 years.

While the exact origins of Chinese New Year are not known, it is believed that this tradition started from ancient China where people took part in activities of worship, and prayers to their ancestors.

Now, Chinese New Year encompasses a wide range of celebrations centered around appreciating our families, welcoming in a fresh new year, and wishing those around us good health and fortune for the year ahead.

The Legend of Nian
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Chinese New Year is synonymous with the colour red and loud fireworks. This is due to the legend of the mythical creature “Nian”, who was known to eat crops, livestock and even people. It become tradition to leave food at the doorstep to appease Nian, until a wise old man discovered that Nian was afraid of the colour red, and loud noises. Since then, Chinese New Year become a time where red lanterns, decorations and scrolls were adorned on houses, and fireworks were set off to scare away Nian. Now it is common to see the Chinese character “福” (fu), meaning ‘Luck’, stuck on doors across the country. If you pay attention you may notice that sometimes the character 福 is stuck upside down. That is because the word ‘dao’ for upside down, sounds like ‘arrive’, symbolizing that luck will arrive. From generation to generation, these have all become traditional customs that people use to celebrate the Spring Festival. The red symbolising the warding off of negativity, and the firecrackers symbolising “out with the old, and in with the new”!

Caring for One Another from a Distance
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During the Spring Festival, people traditionally visit friends and relatives and send greeting and wishes to each other. One favourite tradition of children at this time is to receive little red packets, or ‘Hong Bao’, containing money from their relatives. This is the equivalent of Christmas presents in the west. With the rise of mobile technology, it has become a common custom to send digital red packets in WeChat and other applications. Traditions can continue from afar.

Chinese New Year is a joyful and peaceful festival as well as a time for family reunions. On New Year's Eve, it is a tradition that the whole family will stay together to enjoy the New Year's Eve dinner and welcome the arrival of the New Year. Due to the increasing risk of COVID-19, people across China are encouraged not to return home during this Spring Festival. While this can be a challenging notion, it is good to remember that Chinese New Year is about caring for your family and blessing them with good health. Perhaps the best thing we can do to bless our families with good health this year, is to minimise the risk of spreading COVID-19. With so many new ways to use technology, we can think of fun and exciting ways to celebrate Chinese New Year virtually. Perhaps you can consider arranging a virtual Chinese New Year dinner with your family, where you all cook dishes at home, and arrange a video call across many households to bring one another together.

The Spring Festival Season
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The joy of the Spring Festival extends beyond the household, and into the streets and the cities across the country. From lion dances and dragon dances, to temple fairs and more, each city will reflect their own unique flavour of Chinese New Year, continuing the celebrations until the Lantern Festival, which symbolizes the end of the festive season.

What Chinese New Year Means to Us!
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This year we spoke to some members of the Dulwich College Puxi community, and asked them what Chinese New Year means to them;

Maggie Yu
Junior School Mandarin Teacher

'I come from Bao Tou, a city in North Inner Mongolia. The highlight of the New Year for me is the family reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve. We gather to make dumplings and cook the dishes that we are good at. There is an unspoken tradition in our family that everyone eats the dumplings first and then the dishes because everyone is so keen to eat the dumplings with the coins or the peanuts first which means a prosperous and successful New Year.  When the clock strikes 12,  everyone in our house will wrap up warm and make three clockwise rounds and then anticlockwise rounds around the “Wang fire”to wish good luck in the New Year.'

Piers Matthews
Director of Marketing and Communications

'I’m from Australia and used to associate Chinese New Year with the massive celebrations, dragon dances and firecrackers that happened each year in China Town in Melbourne. Since I married my wife (who is Chinese) in 2005, I have been warmly welcomed into my Chinese family and have learned more about the true meaning of Chinese New Year. They are from Jiangsu province and celebrate Spring Festival in a very traditional way. For me, Chinese New Year is about returning home to see relatives you may not have connected with over the past year. It is about spending time together, eating a lot of wonderful food, and enjoying each other’s company. I value being welcomed into my wife’s family and sharing their family traditions. While we cannot forget fireworks, hongbaos, the annual TV gala and the cultural elements, to me, the most important word for Chinese New Year is ‘family’! This year we will stay in lovely Shanghai and connect with our family members online, video chat with each other and share stories. Who knows, maybe my daughters will receive some hong bao on WeChat 😊!'

Vicky Walker
Year 5 Lead Teacher and Literacy & Language Project Lead

'From what I understand of CNY, it is a lot like Christmas – you enjoy spending time with family, friends and loved ones and enjoy eating delicious food with them. For our family, CNY is a wonderful time to celebrate simply spending time with each other, away from the busy-ness and bustle of Christmas. The past couple of years, it has also given me the opportunity to try out some traditional Chinese activities, such as calligraphy or learning a new dance and appreciate the culture of the country I live in. It is a time to reflect and enjoy everything Shanghai has to offer, and we always enjoy visiting the beautiful Yuan Gardens, walking amongst the spectacular red lanterns, and contemplating the year ahead.'

Jonathan Haworth 
Senior School Head of Maths

'As a student I remember being taught about Chinese New Year with the story of the animal race. As a family we would often have a Chinese meal to celebrate (I insisted on it as it was my favourite treat) and in my later years I would usually cook a meal myself. Despite having engaged with the festival for so long, at least on a culinary level, it was only after coming to China that I realised how much more it was about family and gathering. I will be celebrating the Lunar New Year with my “Shanghai family” of colleagues and friends, and perhaps a hot pot and some KTV!'

Jie Wang 
Senior School Mandarin Teacher

'One of the memories for Shanghainese people in Spring Festival is YuYuan Garden Lantern show as it is one of the most famous and influential Chinese New Year activity in Shanghai. From the first day to the 18th of January, the large-scale lantern shows are performed every day. The Chenghuang Temple used to be one of the busiest places in the downtown of Shanghai to celebrate the New Year. There is a strong festival atmosphere watching the lantern shows in Chenghuang Temple. During this time, many Shanghainese people and the tourists from other provinces will go to the old Chenghuang Temple to watch the colourful lanterns, eat the sweet dumplings and walk on the Zigzag Bridge to celebrate the Chinese New Year.'

Zoe 
Year 4 Student 

'Chinese New Year is the most unique holiday that I have been expecting during the winter time. On Chinese New Year’s Eve, my relatives came to my house and my mom was the busiest people in the house because she needed to cook for everyone but still so yummy! After enjoying the food, we would sit together to watch TV programmes. During this time, I could see the colourful fireworks up in the sky. One of my favourite parts was of course receiving red envelopes! The envelopes were delicately labeled “Happy New Year” and “A lot of fortune” and so on. After that, my sister and me would have a hot shower to welcome the New Year! I like to celebrate Chinese New Year with my family members!'

Curtis 
Y12 IB Student

'Chinese New Year, to me is a time where I can learn and embrace the culture of China, learn the history of Chinese New Year as well as look at lion dancing and fireworks. It’s a time where I can not only discover what Chinese New Year means to me but what it also means to my peers. As we all have our own unique perspective of what Chinese New Year means to us. My favorite part of Chinese New Year is seeing the whole school diving into Chinese culture through fun actives, decorations and previously the Chinese New Year school fair. It brought a sense of communal understanding of Chinese New Year, a time to come together and celebrate! 新年快乐！'

Happy Chinese New Year
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Over the next week we will be celebrating many Chinese New Year traditions, culminating in our annual Chinese New Year Assembly on Friday, that will be livestreamed to the community.

Although Chinese New Year means different things to different people, the theme of reunion and wishing our friends and family good luck for the new year is the same. As we approach this year Spring Festival, we wish everyone a healthy and prosperous Year of the Tiger.