Chelyabinsk branch of the Association of Foreign Students together with the Office of International Cooperation of SUSU invite everyone to celebrate the Chinese New Year which will be held on February 17, 2016. Guests will be able to take part in a traditional Chinese tea ceremony and a master class on making Christmas toys and win a prize in a Christmas quiz.
In contrast to usual New Year date which start on January 1 the date of the Chinese New Year changes. It falls on the first new moon of the first month of the year. The year of the Fire Monkey began on February 8, 2016 and will end on January 27, 2017.
Chinese New Year (‘chūnjié’, which means ‘Spring Festival’) is the most important holiday for all the Chinese; it has been celebrated for over two thousand years. It became known as Spring Festival after the introduction of the Gregorian calendar in order to distinguish it from the New Year according to the Western style. In daily use ‘chūnjié’ is called ‘nián’ which means ‘year’. Nián is also the name of the monster that lived in ancient China whose name is associated with one of the most interesting Chinese legends.
On the Chinese New Year Eve it is common to place red writings on the doors, run firecrackers, light the lights in the houses and stay awake throughout the night – ‘to protect the year’. Chinese New Year's Eve is called ‘night meeting after a separation’, this moment is the most important of the year. In the north of China on the New Year it is common to eat dumplings (‘niángāo’), and in the south – slices cooked from glutinous rice (‘jiǎozi’). Northerners prefer dumplings because in the Chinese language this word sounds like the phrase ‘send off the old year and welcome the new one’. In addition, dumpling shape resembles traditional shape of ingots of gold and silver and symbolizes wealth. For the same reason Southerners eat slices symbolizing life improvement.
The first five days of the New Year are to meet. Relatives, friends, classmates, colleagues visit and congratulate each other on Happy New Year. Traditional gifts are ‘I-suì qiǎn’ - pocket money in special red envelopes which are commonly given to children. But in general, the tradition of giving gifts is not very common in China.
During few days after the New Year noisy festivals and fairs are held with performance of lion and dragon dances, ‘land boat’ round dance, and stilts performances. New Year celebrations come to an end after the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.
Everyone is welcomed at the celebration on February 17, 2016. It will start at 15:15 in the rom 428 of the main academic building.
Contact person on the news: Yuliia Shamsutdinova, tel.: 267-99-83
Date of the event:
Wednesday, February 17, 2016 - 15:15