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The Chinese New Year activities begin from the Chinese New Year eve when people usually decorate their homes with symbols of good fortune and use bold colors such as bright red, gold, orange, etc which signify wealth and happiness.
The homes are cleaned and families start decorating their spaces with colorful flowers and fruits. Some of the important Chinese New Year Activities include celebrations like fireworks that light up the skies. People usually play with fireworks at the stroke of 12 at midnight. Dragon dances are very popular and have the audience enthralled. Steel drummers are out on the roads playing and entertaining the people. Lion dance is another important ritual that is a form of traditional dance wherein performers in a lion's costumes, mimic a lion's movements. The lantern festival is a stunning visual treat where craftsmen display various multicolored paper lanterns in shapes of butterflies, dragons, trees, etc. Dragon boat race is an exciting game that people indulge in to celebrate unity and harmony.
On the second day of the New Year, people pray to their ancestors and dogs are well fed on this day. On the fifth day of the New Year, people eat dumplings and signify the birthday of the Chinese god of wealth. The seventh day includes a customary salad eating ritual and is considered to be the common man's birthday. The ninth day signifies offering prayers to the Jade Emperor of Heaven. People have tea as part of the ritual on this day. The fifteenth day is celebrated as the Lantern Festival and people eat rice dumplings as a way of concluding the festival.
The Chinese New Year events are not just ceremonial, but essentially are a familial affair bringing together children, adults and elders to celebrate.
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