B1 – Intermediate
In most Asian countries, New Year’s is celebrated twice – in January and in February.
Read the article below to know more about the Chinese New Year and some cultural traditions that the Chinese practice. Be ready to also talk about this holiday and the important festivals from your country.
http://www.english-online.at/culture/chinese-new-year/chinese-new-year-celebrations.htm
Discussion Questions:
- Describe how the Chinese celebrate their New Year.
- How do you celebrate NY in your country?
- Have you ever seen or witnessed a dragon dance or a Lantern Festival? What do you think of it?
- What are some Spanish festivals that are very specific to a region?
- In your country, what are the dishes or food that are especially served during New Year? Why are they typical NY food?
17 replies on “Festivals: Chinese New Year”
Describe how the Chinese celebrate their New Year.
The Chinese prepare their houses cleaning them and hanging wishes written on red papers all over the house. Also, Chinese people receive the new year with firecrackers. They also make parades with colourful dragons and lanterns.
How do you celebrate NY in your country?
In pain the NY is usually celebrated with a party at midnight. Before, the people have a gala dinner. Some people go out to a restaurant or hotel, and others prefer stay at home and have a dinner with friends or family.
Have you ever seen or witnessed a dragon dance or a Lantern Festival? What do you think of it?
Not in live. I have seen these events on tv. These Festivals seems very funny.
What are some Spanish festivals that are very specific to a region?
In my region are very popular de Moors and Christians Festivals. Each town celebrate its Festival on different dates. These festivities commemorate the battles between the Moors and Christians that took place in the Iberian Peninsula from the 8th to the 15th centuries.
In your country, what are the dishes or food that are especially served during New Year? Why are they typical NY food?
I don’t know if there is an special food to celebrate the NY in my country. I usually have a dinner with shellfish and other starters. As main dish can be meat or fish. At the end, we take a dessert and toast with cava. A moment very special is a few seconds before midnight. At this time we take a grain of grape for each of the twelve bells that anounce the beginning of the new year.
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Until your next one.
1. Describe how the Chinese celebrate their New Year.
They fully clean their houses and decorate them with flowers, plants, oranges and they hang red papers with merry wishes that they previosuly wrote. They special dishes that have special meaning.
2. How do you celebrate NY in your country?
We wear elegant dresses and we have dinner with our family. At midnight we eat a grape following the tweleve strokes of the bell and then we cheer with champagne.
3.Have you ever seen or witnessed a dragon dance or a Lantern Festival?
I have only seen it in television.
4. What do you think of it?
I think it is beautiful with all the colors and it look like very funny.
5. What are some Spanish festivals that are very specific to a region?
In Valencia they celebrate “Fallas”. They create big carton figures that are very beutiful. And at the end of the festival they burn them.
6. In your country, what are the dishes or food that are especially served during New Year? Why are they typical NY food?
We usually eat seafood, but it does not have any special meaning.
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Until your next one!
1 Describe how the Chinese celebrate their New Year
A lot of things are done for Chinese New Year. Houses are cleaned from top to bottom in the days before the beginning of the holidays. People write merry wishes on red paper and hang them all over the house. Rooms are decorated with flowers, plants and oranges.
2 How do you celebrate NY in your country?
In Spain, the New Year is celebrated with a dinner with friends or family, and at twelve o’clock twelve chimes are played and twelve grapes are eaten.
3 Have you ever seen or witnessed a dragon dance or a Lantern Festival? What do you think of it?
I have not seen any of these celebrations but I would like to see them
4 What are some Spanish festivals that are very specific to a region?
an example of a festival of a region is the tomatina of Buñol, or the fallas of valecia
5 In your country, what are the dishes or food that are especially served during New Year? Why are they typical NY food?
I really believe that there is no typical New Year’s dish, in each region a different meal is eaten but I do not believe that there is a specific tradition
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Enjoy your writing practice.
Describe how the Chinese celebrate their New Year.
The Chinese celebrate their New Year cleaning their houses, writting merry messages and hung them all over the house, decorating rooms with flowers and plants, throwing firecrackers, eating special dishes, hanging glowing lanterns on temples, …
How do you celebrate NY in your country?
In my country we celebrate our New Year with special dishes and eating twelve grapes and a cava cup when the year ends in 31th december.
Have you ever seen or witnessed a dragon dance or a Lantern Festival? What do you think of it?
I have seen some reports on tv about dragon dance or a Lantern Festival, and I think is a way like another way of celebrating, it has had a beggining a lot of years ago and it has arrived until our days.
What are some Spanish festivals that are very specific to a region?
There are specific festivals to a region for example, Fallas in Valencia, or Semana Santa in Andalucia.
In your country, what are the dishes or food that are especially served during New Year? Why are they typical NY food?
In muy country the dishes or food that are especially served during New Year are roast lamb, shellfish and sweets.
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1- The new year Chinese start to 21th Decembre until 20th Febrer and they name your year with a name of animals. They have one animal for 12 years, rat is the first and pig the last. It’s very nice because, they open all doors & windows in midnight for sais goodbye the last year and said welcome to the new year.
2- Yes, in mi country, Spain, we eat 12 graps with a song of a bells in the midnight of 31th Decembre. Every town & cuty have a Church or similar with a big bell and mark the 12 bells. It’s very normal finished this ritual with a cup of cava o champagne.
3- No, just in a fims. I think that this is very special and a nice ritual.
4- In my town is very special the Carnaval. We have a lot of events for some days when the people going with his fancy dress and the Carnaval finished with a beautiful day saying Comparsas. Too many people dressed in the typical costume of comparsa and throw candies for the street and the kids running for keep this.
5- In Spain doesn’t have a tipycal food for a dinner but for celebrate de new year we eat a 12 graps.
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1. Describe how the Chinese celebrate their New Year.
The Chinese New Year is very curious and special. For the Chinese, each year represents an animal, and they celebrate New Year’s Eve with firecrackers that welcome a new year. The last event, the Lantern Festival, must be very nice to see, because people hang glowing lanterns in temples and others carry lanterns in a moonlight parade. Also, in many places, dancers carry long colorful dragons made of silk, paper and bamboo in the streets.
2. How do you celebrate NY in your country?
In Spain, New year is celebrated having dinner with family or friends, eating 12 grapes at midnight and then we go party.
3. Have you ever seen or witnessed a dragon dance or a Lantern Festival? What do you think of it?
I’ve never seen this festival but i would like to see it because on vídeos and images it seems very spectaculars.
4. What are some Spanish festivals that are very specific to a region?
One of the typical festivals of Catalonia and of Balearic Island are “the correfuegos”, which is a parade of people disguised as demons who run and dance under fireworks.
5. In your country, what are the dishes or food that are especially served during New Year? Why are they typical NY food?
In Spain we don’t have dishes or food that are served especially during the new year, only the grapes for midnight.
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Thanks for sharing some New Year’s traditions in your country!
1. Describe how the Chinese celebrate their New Year?
The Chinese New Year’s celebration is pretty curious and full of spiritualism. Chinese New Year start on 21 of December, with the beginning of winter and lasts until the next full moon (nearly 20 th February) and every 12 years, each for every animal, starts over again with the year of the first animal. It is interesting know how they are so spiritual saying goodbye the the past year and welcoming the new one, opening all windows and doors of their houses even more so if you think that in that date it’s pretty cold outside.
2. Have you ever seen or witnessed a dragon dance or a Lantern Festival?
My first Chinese New Year’s celebration had been in Madrid, few years ago. It was a sunny February’s day so it was possible to make the Dragon parade in the Chinese neighborhood of Madrid. I thought the Dragon was bigger, with typical musica, sounds and religious content and that many more Chinese people was there, but unfortunately not so it was disappointing.
3. What else do you know about the Chinese culture? How about other Asian culture?
About the Asian culture in general I love the history of Marco Polo, an Italian merchant of Venice that discovered an easier way to enter in Mongol territory to buy and sell spices, textiles and much more. He got in touch with Mongolian and Chinese people and bring to Europe the first example of Asian culture in Europe. I also like the history of the Chinese Great Wall and history of ninjas.
4. What are some Spanish festivals that are very specific to a region?
In Cataluña, the day 24th April is celebrated the day of St. Jordi. Catalans people saying that these day it’s the day of lovers, like St. Valentine but only for them. In that day tradition say that, for men the gift should be a book, for women a red rose. But fortunately nowadays it’s not the only way to celebrate St. Jordi… cultural association organize in that day marketplaces of books, and if you want, you can buy a book also for women. She will be more grateful!
5. In your country, are there any dishes or food that are especially served on certain festivals or holidays?
In Italy, every region, and for every religious celebration there are many typical dishes. In the south of Italy for example, the day of Easter, usually mothers with the help of grandmothers cook lamb and cauliflower fried and then boiled in broth.
Impressive job writing long responses for every question. Your efforts are much appreciated!
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In Cataluña, the day 24th April is celebrated the day of St. Jordi.
1. how the Chinese celebrate their New Year?
Houses are cleaned from top to bottom in the days before the beginning of the holidays. People write merry wishes on red paper and hang them all over the house. Rooms are decorated with flowers, plants and oranges. On New Year’s Eve firecrackers send out the old year and welcome the new one
2. Have you ever seen or witnessed a dragon dance or a Lantern Festival?
No
3. What else do you know about the Chinese culture? How about other Asian culture?
I dont Know, I’ve never traveled there
4. What are some Spanish festivals that are very specific to a region?
each region has its typical parties
5. In your country, are there any dishes or food that are especially served on certain festivals or holidays?
in my city i dont
1- the celebrations starts with the second new moon after the beginning of winter ans lasts until the next full moon.
2.- no, never
3.- i don,t no about Chinese culture, and the other asian culture neither.
4.- fallas, fiestas del pilar, tamborrada de teruel
5.- In Catalonia, in Christmas eat escudella. In Easter weak, is more tipical eat “torrijas” and eat cake with and egg chocolate, denominate “la mona”
Good!!!