Chinese New Year is a celebration in China marking the beginning of spring and the end of winter. This year, it landed on February 17th, but it normally starts between January 21 and February 20. The tradition contains a series of celebrations and reunions with family. These celebrations contain many traditional dances, the most popular consisting of the lion and dragon dances. Family traditions often involve giving red envelopes filled with money to loved ones or having a large dinner on New Year’s Eve, along with sweeping floors to ward off any bad luck the previous year may have had.
Aside from the celebration, the decorations tell their own story. According to myth, a monster named Nian used to terrorize villagers in the middle of the night. Then one day, they realized that the beast was afraid of firecrackers and the color red. So they started putting up red, intricately made decorations on doorways and homes to ward him off. These red decorations have become a staple for the Chinese New Year, helping ward off evil and bad luck for a happy New Year.
Our MVS community also takes time to celebrate the New Year with our own festivities. The MVS Upper School Mandarin teacher, Dr. Gu, takes time with each of her classes to put on a spectacular performance for the entirety of MVS, ushering in the New Year. Performances such as a lion dance, long fan dance, fashion show, and singing were done at the event, in order to share the tradition with our community. Of course, on behalf of the Mandarin class, have a wonderful new year.
