Do's and don'ts during Chinese New Year

Children show their red packets. [Photo/Xinhua]

Prepare red packets on New Year's Eve

On New Year's Eve, senior family members such as grandparents and parents would give red packets, also known as red envelope (the money used to suppress or put down the evil spirits) to children. Red packets almost always contain money, usually varying from a couple of dollars to several hundred. So if you celebrate New Year's Eve with a Chinese family, the children of the family would be happy if you were to give them red packets no matter how much money they contain just that it represents your good wishes to the children.

Apart from New Year's Eve, you need also prepare red packets in advance before you visit a Chinese family, because children and teenagers sometimes jokingly use the phrase "gong xi fa cai, hong bao na lai" roughly translated as "congratulations and be prosperous, now give me a red packet". In case you meet such naughty children who are quite common during Spring Festival, you are suggested to prepare in advance several red packets to avoid embarrassment.

Select gifts carefully

In addition to red packets, gifts are also usually brought when visiting friends or relatives, such as fruit (typically oranges), cakes, biscuits, chocolates and candies. However certain items should not be given, as they are considered taboos, including: those items associated with funerals such as handkerchiefs, towels, chrysanthemums; sharp objects that symbolize cutting a tie like scissors and knives; homonyms for unpleasant topic, for example, "clock" sounds like "the funeral ritual", "pear" sounds like "separate", "umbrella" sounds like "fall apart".