My First Chinese New Year Celebration

This year Chinese New Year will be on January 22nd and it is the year of the Rabbit.

I celebrate Chinese New Year with my husband and his side of the family. I have celebrated this for many years now. I can also remember the first time my Chinese husband invited me to celebrate with his family.

The Invitation

This was years before we got married and it was also the first time meeting his parents and siblings. Unsure of what to expect, I had a lot of questions. As per usual, my dear husband did not provide much insight. Full disclosure, he is very Americanized and therefore very casual.

“Just wear whatever you want,” he said. I gave him a look.

“There’s going to be a lot of food,” he added.

I wanted to be proper but also look cute. I decided to wear one of my favorite tops. A red-silk, v-neck with a bow. Red was both appropriate and lucky.

The Food

As promised, there was a lot of food. A full table with a beautiful and colorful display of food entrees. There was lobster, crab, duck, BBQ pork, shrimp, abalone, chicken, mushrooms, greens, soup and rice.

The food was placed in the middle of the table. We all sat and served ourselves whatever we wanted. As a pescatarian at that time in my life, I only explored the seafood and rice. Every bite was delicious! For sure, better than any Chinese food I had tasted before.

Food was a big part of this celebration. I tried to small talk. I had so many questions but noticed right away that no one was really talking during the meal. Everyone was enjoying it in silence. Or at least that is what it felt like to me.

As a Mexican, I’m used to big Mexican fiestas with everyone talking on top of everyone, loud music in the background, and multiple toasts. This was different.

RELATED TOPIC: Building Family

Red Envelopes

After dinner, came the distribution of good luck envelopes. Spoiler Alert: They are full of cash.

All the unmarried people receive envelopes from the married people. Since I wasn’t married at the time, I received a lot of envelopes. I wasn’t quite ready for this and felt a little awkward. It was like attending a holiday party and receiving a lot of presents without bringing one!

But everyone was very friendly and made me feel welcomed to this tradition.

A Show and Firecrackers

I think there was some tv-watching and some dog-watching as they always have cute little dogs running around. We mostly talked about the dogs and the tricks. Like children, dogs can make people across cultures and generations laugh.

Afterwards, there were firecrackers in the yard and then we left for the night. My official first Chinese New Year! I got to meet the family, eat delicious seafood, received envelopes, a dog show and firecrackers!

Just Family

The juxtaposition of the way our families celebrate special holidays was apparent right away. It’s funny to me sometimes because they are so different. I’m glad my little one gets to learn, celebrate and love both. To her it’s just family. Our family.

How to Celebrate with Kids:

Chinese New Year is truly fun to celebrate, try these fun and easy ways to celebrate with kids!

• Wear Something Red
• Incorporate the Rabbit in games/crafts
• If you can find red envelopes great, if not color white ones red.
• Try eating fortune cookies or snapdragon cookies
• Make or buy a kite and go fly it

I would love to hear if you end up doing any of these. If there is enough interest, we could do a kite flying playdate.