By Helga Mordente in partnership with Differänce Intercultural
After 3 years of living in Shanghai, I’ve had the opportunity to enjoy the Chinese New Year in many different ways.
The Chinese New Year is the most important holiday for the Chinese, compared to the important holidays for Brazilians, it is a mixture of our Christmas with the turn of our New Year or Réveillon. But, here in China, it is celebrated for approximately 15 days. It is the time when families really get together and exchange gifts, fill the table with food and wear special clothes mainly in red and gold colors.
It is very interesting the importance that the Chinese give to this holiday. People who leave the small towns in the countryside and go to work in the big cities, always come back on this holiday to their family members bringing lots of gifts, fruits, all kinds of nuts and money.
Leaving the small town for the big city is synonymous with having grown rich, and the family expects lots of gifts and money, which they wait for all year.
The Chinese New Year is a celebration full of customs, traditions and superstitions. For example, cleaning the house is essential, so as not to let the dirt from the previous year bring bad luck. The superstitions continue with food, clothes, ways of behaving, etc. Companies always take their employees to dinner in expensive restaurants and provide a table full of food – a lot of food – to thank the year that has passed and to bring luck to the year that is beginning.
Over the Chinese New Years, we received gift certificates for supermarkets, stores, and cinemas – not to mention the gift kits that the companies send to our homes, with wonderful pots, cleaning and hygiene products, towels and bedding. I love it!
Some companies have parties that last all day, with family friendly park activities, bike rides, scavenger hunts, and raffles. An important detail for the raffles, if the boss is chosen, he cannot keep the prize! He or she must always give it to someone else.
The parties always end with a lot of food for everyone. Food for the Chinese is synonymous with a lot of abundance and wealth. For foreigners, we find it wasteful, but for the Chinese it brings them a lot of joy and it symbolizes abundance.
As a Brazilian co-expatriate in China, the Chinese New Year highlights multiple cultural differences, which both embarrass and delight me. If you have the chance, participate in this very special celebration and cultural tradition!
