I was in Hong Kong during Chinese New year, when the Zodiac switch from year of Dragon to the year of Snake.
This trip renews appreciation of the tradition. It is heart-warming that the tradition remains strong in the celebration of Chinese New Year. Yet, it is such a contrast to its lack of, in the Bay Area.
Public holiday
As the New Year falls on Sunday, it gives 3 days of public holidays in Hong Kong and work resumes on the 5th day of the New Year. Public holiday makes one of the biggest differences in the upkeep of any traditions. It allows people the enjoyment of not only the holidays, but also the pleasure to look forward to the holidays.
Feast, Feast and More Feasts
Eating is an important element in celebrations! Chinese New year can be seen as a series of days looking awfully similar, and is almost comforting to see the pattern. For three days from New Year eve, the New year day to the second day, the day typically includes gatherings in the morning, visits each other or to close relatives, big family lunch, some break in the day, then a family dinner. With the subtle society change towards reduced home cooking, most restaurants have been booked days if not weeks ahead of time, creating such an atmosphere of prosperity. A set dinner for 10 – 12 in a modest restaurant would charge HKD 3000+ plus; more towards HKD 4000 if not more, that is about USD 500+. It typically would have the tender roasted pig, a whole fish, a whole chicken, vegetables, luxurious soup such as Shark Fin or so, seafood, fried rice, noodles, desert. Counting the number of family meals, not a cheap festival.
The season of giving – red envelope
It is reported some kids accumulate fortune from red envelopes over the years. my estimate for a middle-class family, each kid could earn about HKD 3000 or so each year, about USD 400 or so. I stand to be corrected for more accurate averages. Keeping to the tradition is the super polite gesture when people are giving out red envelopes; and then shuffling extra ones to thank others. It is almost an endless giving – first parents give red envelopes to their children; family A would give red envelope to family B’s unmarried children; family B would do the reverse; then family A gives red envelopes to the very elderly of family B; family B of course returns; family A gives red envelopes to family B for the gifts they have bought; so you can expect what family B would do. Such a display of “gift giving etiquettes” and at times it would take a while to settle down the giving and receiving parts. It tells a lot about the tradition and culture. If family A and B choose to go out dinner together, it would be another etiquette display on who could have the honor to pay the bill ! Extra red envelopes to the waiter, waitress, janitor in restaurants; or to the security, janitor and other in the apartment buildings; or whoever.
When do we see folks freely give out money to strangers as a tradition in anywhere, any time? Not to mention that everyone is greeting everyone with nice words like “You would get rich, you would be healthy, you would be prosperous for the whole year”
It is pretty special.
The Market, the Parade, Firework and the TV shows for the public
Entrepreneurs bid for booths in open markets, that open just during the few days before the Chinese new year, to sell stuff; it surprised me often on what makes the best-selling products, typically not the type of products that one would keep or look again outside of the season, like shaped balloons, or good fortune tiny wind-mills.
New year day, has the evening “chariots-Parade” attracting about 180,000 people; Next day, the fire work display attracts about 300,000 live viewers; these are not big number in the densely populated city of Hong Kong though. The evening TV channels are typically monopolized with variety shows of music, fortune-telling and funny performances. The fortune tellers would talk about the fortune trends for folks with different zodiac and different years of birth.
Because of family dinners, the early bedders tend to miss out a few events.
Third day of the New year
Tradition indicates that it would be easy to get into arguments on the 3rd day.
Such a smart tradition to give people a break (to rest)!
So is my flight back to the Bay Area
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oliviatamccue 
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