Happy 牛(niú) Year

Happy Lunar New Year! 新xīn 年nián 快kuài 乐lè！

We collected some vocabularies about Lunar New year for you! Here we go!

1. 团tuán 圆yuán: The evening before Chinese New Year’s Day is an occasion for family reunion dinner. 

2. 吉jí 祥xiáng 话huà: Chinese people greet with unique sayings when they meet each other during Chinese New Year.

3. 红hóng 包bāo:  Red envelopes always contain money, and are given, most commonly, to kids from their parents, grandparents, and others as Chinese New Year gifts.

4. 水shuǐ 饺jiǎo or 元yuán 宝bǎo: Dumplings (or jiǎo zi ) are a traditional must-eat food on New Year's Eve; families wrap them up and eat them as the clock strikes midnight. Dumplings symbolize longevity and wealth; their shape resembles gold shoe-shaped ingots, an early form of Chinese currency.

5. 春chūn 联lián: Spring couplet used as a New Year's decoration that expresses happiness and hopeful thoughts for the coming year.

6.年nián 兽shòu: The beginning of Chinese New Year started with a mythical beast called Nian. Nian would come on the first day of New Year to eat livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after Nian ate the food they prepared, it wouldn’t attack any more people.