More recently, the European New Year holidays have died down. And, it seems, they took them off quite well, but … there are many who want to celebrate the New Year again, this time according to the Eastern calendar. For this, of course, the notorious "basin" with Olivier and the traditional Christmas tree are not suitable. An oriental holiday should also have special customs. How should you celebrate the year of the black dragon?
Instructions
Step 1
Start preparing for the Eastern New Year in the same way as you were preparing for our traditional holiday: with a thorough cleaning of the apartment. According to ancient oriental beliefs, you are thus preparing a place for a new life, sweeping all hardships and failures out of your home. But just before the holiday, you should remove all the attributes of cleaning away from your eyes so that luck does not go away with the garbage.
Step 2
Now go about decorating your home. Place a money tree (in China, this is usually a cypress tree, placed in a bowl of fruit and rice), tie coins to it with red ribbons - for welfare. Hang up colorful or red lanterns. Cut out various fantastic figures out of paper and decorate the windows with them. An obligatory element is also leaflets, hung in all rooms, with wishes of happiness and well-being.
Step 3
Pay attention to the color scheme of your holiday. The main palette with which you must meet the Dragon should contain black, blue and red colors. Water (which is black in Chinese) is strengthened by metal, so use white and silver as well. Clothes should also have mainly these colors, but do not forget about bright and shiny decorations.
Step 4
One of the most important attributes of celebrating the New Year in an oriental way, as elsewhere, is a festive table with treats. Lay down a white tablecloth and shine cutlery. Put red napkins or vases of this color, candles next to it. Dishes on the table should be glass or porcelain, crystal and silver are also allowed, but not clay. Make sure that there is nothing square in the table setting. Also avoid sharp corners and symmetrical arrangement of appliances. Never put a knife on the table.
Step 5
Give preference to fish and seafood dishes. Naturally, waterfowl are also suitable - duck or goose. Serve vegetables and fruits red or white. These can be pears, apples, pomegranates, frozen berries - raspberries, currants, cranberries, bell peppers, tomatoes, watermelons, etc. Don't forget tangerines and oranges too. By the way, a Christmas tree decorated with tangerines and tangerines as a gift to guests is the very thing: this is an ancient oriental tradition.
Step 6
Serving elements of the earth, that is, dishes with a sweet taste, as well as yellow vegetables, potatoes and other root vegetables grown in the ground, are not supposed to be served on the table. Remember that there should be a pair of dishes on the table. From drinks, vodka and beer should be preferred.
Step 7
One of the important New Year traditions in Chinese is the preparation of dumplings on the eve of the holiday. They are sculpted by the whole family, and this is considered a symbol of good wishes to households, longevity of parents. A coin is put into one dumpling, and whoever gets it will be happy for a whole year.
Step 8
For the chimes, prepare paper lanterns with a wick soaked in sesame oil for everyone who is celebrating with you. When the clock strikes, they are set on fire in the East, and by the color of the burning wick they determine what year will be. Those who have a red flame will be especially happy. And be sure to laugh: in Japan and China (and in our country too) they say that as you meet this year, you will live it.
