Chinese New Year

image: Happy Chinese New Year!!! posted on flickr.com by NoLimitsTW

by: Grayson Leverenz

January 26, 2009 begins the Chinese Year of the Ox, and celebrations are happening across the globe from Beijing to New York. For your own Chinese New Year celebration here in the US, plan a theme night with a few of the ideas below:

1. Give your house a thorough cleaning.
Chinese believe cleaning before the new year will sweep away evil spirits and bad feelings left over from the previous year.

2. Decorate with paper lanterns.
Chinese New Year ends after 15 days with the Lantern Festival, making lanterns the perfect decorations for your party. For directions on making paper lanterns, click here.

3. Wear red and gold.
Red signifies vitality and happiness while gold represents prosperity and wealth.

4. Prepare a traditional Chinese New Year dish.
For a steamed whole bass with black bean sauce recipe, click here.

5. Attend a Chinese New Year Parade in the US.
For details on the New York parade Sunday 2/01/09, click here.
For details on the Los Angeles parade Saturday 1/31/09, click here.

Happy New Year!

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