It’s hard not to do a repeat of the same post every year as I know my posts during Chinese New Year have always been pretty similar. Photos of CNY preparations, mandarin oranges, red and gold decorations around the house and that sweet box full of candied fruits. Maybe my instagram pictures will put a slightly new spin on things then? If you’re on instagram too, my user name is Diamond Canopy. All but 3 of these photos here are taken from my iPhone, which has made photo taking today super quick, snappy and er…sneaky!
It’s the Eve of CNY and the tradition is to have a big noisy get together with your family. It only seems like yesterday when we were all at my grandma’s on Christmas Day but here we were earlier today, gathered around several tables at my grandma’s house (the one above is the ‘kids’ table!) tucking into some yummy traditional food.
Below are plenty more photos from around my grandma’s house and all her lovely decorations. My grandma is hard at work cooking up a feast in her little kitchen in the first photo! I really do love Chinese New Year, I love the vibrant colours, the traditions and the awesome atmosphere. I am determined to celebrate it in Hong Kong one of these days, the celebrations are unreal!
I learn new things every year to do with traditions. One of them includes the first door decoration below. I asked why the symbol for ‘good luck’ was upside down and I was told that it was arranged that way on purpose. According to tradition, the upside down character is placed that way to show that luck is coming for the new year. I rather like that!
Of course we finished off the evening with a noisy game of Mahjong (yay, I won a game!) and I took a photo of these awesome Hello Kitty lucky red envelopes (laisee) which were a couple that were given to me today. I always keep my favourite ones because they’re just so pretty.
Right, off to complete one of the last traditions on the eve of CNY and that’s to take a bath and throw in a whole bunch of fragrant pomelo leaves. It’s meant to bring good luck for the rest of the coming year. It’s strange one, but I love the tradition and it smells just lovely!
新年快樂, 恭喜發財!
Happy Chinese New Year!
