78
0
Taiwan

Wondering how Taiwan celebrates Lunar New Year 2022

Hung Shi
Hung Shi
January 31, 2022 · 4 min read
78

Let’s Hung will kickstart by sharing the insights of the events and practices during Lunar New Year (LNY) in both Singapore and Taiwan.

Come on… Hung and Huat with us!

Lunar New Year- YES! Finally, we are in the most significant time of the year, an annual affair filled with fun and essential family and friends activities such as spring cleaning, buying yummy goodies and of course shopping new clothes and definitely what’s everyone been longing for – gathering tabled with lots of delicious food~~~ (aligned with the permissible cap limit of visitors in a household ). Amid the pandemic, this is a fabulous time again to indulge yourself in another festive mood, following the earlier celebration on Xmas and New Year.

Singapore – Lunar New Year

Singapore springs into this festive of reunion and joy with gorgeous annual decorative light-up in Chinatown and a joy-filled atmosphere with well-dressed participants during Chingay Parade 2022 – an annual show with lots of visual flamboyance. Of course, the show will be telecasted virtually so that everyone can enjoy the livestream at home or even at friends/relative’s place comfortably. What’s more, it’s turning to 50 years of anniversary this year – Chingay50 “Ignite Your Dreams”. Added on, a visit to superbly decorated “River Hongbao 2022” at an enchanted landmark Gardens By The Bay!!!

Source from: Lunar new Year 2022: 红红火火 Meadow Entrance Walkway obtained from https://riverhongbao.sg/lanterns/

The 3 important activities for Singaporeans would be 4, 7 and 14 February 2022- being the commencement of Spring 【立春】so we can all dash to ATMs to deposit money, 7 February will be the day where it is everyone’s birthday and yusheng will be the must-have on the day, similarly to cake (:. Lastly, it will be the Valentine day for lovey doveys to spend a good moments and to pamper the gals with ravishing flowers and bring them for a romantic dinner.

Hands holding chopsticks ready to toss into the air. Dish contains the mixture of shredded vegetables, ingredients and salmon. Yusheng is often served during Lunar New Year especially on this day called 人日.

Taiwan – Lunar New Year

During Lunar New Year[LNY], Taiwanese will be spending this festive fruitfully with the following activities:

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is AdobeStock_194536118-1024x683.jpeg
Taiwan’s traditional religious beliefs on burning paper money as offerings to thank God
  1. LNY Eve: Offerings to ancestors for respects and enjoying sumptuous family reunion dinner.
  2. 1st day of LNY: Visit temples for god praying sessions.
  3. 2nd day of LNY: Married daughters will head back to their maiden home.
  4. 3rd day of LNY: Sleep to the fullest (oh yes… this is my favourite for a recharge! 😊).
  5. 4th day of LNY: Participate in temples’ activities and celebrations.
  6. 5th day of LNY: The commencement of the Spring Season aka 立春. Time to huat!!

Further to this, we shall not miss -out some dos, don’ts and interesting facts such as:

  • Do not sweep or throw away stuffs on the first day of LNY. (A belief to have sweep away your good luck by doing so).
  • Do not forget to keep the rice container full so that you will have abundance of food throughout the year.
  • Avoid eating porridge on the day.
  • Avoid doing any laundry.
  • Avoid using knives or scissors or even needles as these items associates to signs of danger.
  • Avoid scolding of vulgarities.
  • Do remember to return money to people whom had borrowed from.
  • Do not wake a person up in the midst of their sleep.

For all FOOD LOVERS! These are the types of food prepared by Taiwanese during LNY (each comes with an auspicious representation).

Checklist below for your references and you may want to try to get some to enrich yourself with more wealth and prosperity throughout the Roaring Year ahead~~~

  • Perennial vegetables [長年菜] – Asparagus, Spinach, Celery – signifies Longevity.
  • Chicken meat [鷄肉] – its auspicious for Businesses , in 閩南語 saying – “食鷄會起家”.
  • Fishball [魚圓] – The round shape signifies Family Reunion.
  • Dried Beancurd [豆乾] – This food represents high-ranking official, which relates to increasing of strength in work and life [做官].
  • Sweets [糖果] – Represents loading of sweetness throughout the year.
  • Glutinous Rice Cake [年糕] – Enhance Promotions every year.
  • Radish [白蘿蔔] – Brings Auspicious and Luck.
  • Peanuts [花生] – Signifies Longevity.
  • Chives [韭菜] – Represents Long-Lasting in everything you do.
  • Hair Moss/ Nostoc Flagelliforme [髮菜] – Signifies Wealth.
  • Rice topped with Spring Flower [白飯插春仔花] – Signifies Good Harvest , Surplus in Food and Money.
  • Jojobe [棗子] – Signifies Luck and Success every year.

Dear Readers, we hoped that you will now have more takeaways on how the Lunar New Year is widely celebrated in Taiwan.

If you enjoy this post, please continue to stay tune for the next article, which will be very soon!

Hung with me @ Taiwan and not forgetting to wish all of you a Happy Lunar New Year, blessed with everlasting Happiness, Good Health and Prosperity!!! 

發啊，夯啊！