Do's and don'ts during Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is around the corner and on Feb 8 Chinese people will reunite with their faraway families, welcoming the New Year together. Overseas friends may also be invited to celebrate with them. Chinese culture is quite broad and profound and it is important for foreign friends to learn more before visiting a Chinese family during Spring Festival. Let us take a look at what is suitable and what is not.

Clothing, mainly featuring the color red, is commonly worn throughout the Chinese New Year. [Photo/Xinhua]

Red clothes are recommended

Clothing, mainly featuring the color red, is commonly worn throughout the Chinese New Year because it was once believed that red could scare away evil spirits and bad fortune. Then why it is red has this miracle power?

According to tales and legends, the beginning of the Chinese New Year started with a mythical beast called Nian, which would eat villagers, especially children. For many years, poor villagers lived in fear, wishing the first day of the year would pass as soon as possible. Then a god visited and told them to put red paper on their houses and to place firecrackers to scare away the beast. The villagers then understood that Nian was afraid of the color red. From then on, red became the auspicious color during the Spring Festival. Now, red represents many other meanings such as happiness, prosperity, warmth, virtue, truth and sincerity. So if you are invited to a Chinese friend's during Spring Festival, you are highly advised to wear red clothes.

A thorough clean before the first day of the New Year

Two days before the New Year celebration, Chinese families give their homes a thorough clean which is believed to sweep away the bad luck of the preceding year. Cleaning on the first day is prohibited because that will sweep away the newly arrived good luck. So if your friends need your help for cleaning, you should not hesitate because this means a fresh start for the new year.