Chinese New Year is on the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar, and is the most important traditional festival in Chinese culture. Celebrants observe the holiday for fifteen days, with the last day marking the Lantern Festival. Traditional decorations include pasting Chinese characters around one’s doorway for good luck in the new year and hanging up lanterns. 

Since it is such an important festival, families usually get together and make dumplings together on Chinese New Year’s Eve, later eating them with traditional fish. The beginning of the new year is ultimately marked by giving red envelopes to children, containing money. They politely ask family members for their gift by saying, “Gōngxǐ fācái, dà jí dà l” which translates to: “Congratulation on getting rich!”

Ms. Muriel Zhang’s Mandarin classes celebrated Chinese New Year by learning the ancient art of Calligraphy. First, they practiced writing Chinese characters using brushes and water on paper to trace the correct strokes of the characters. After practicing, the students decided between four symbols of varying difficulty to rewrite with real ink on red rice paper. 

Laoshi Zhang also gave each student a red envelope containing Chinese currency, and wished them a happy new year with good fortunes to come!