Many customs bring good luck in the coming year. Children celebrate by setting off firecrackers. A lion dance wards off bad luck. There are lots of delicious foods, like jiaozi (dumplings) and niangao (a sticky steamed cake). Before the beginning of the new year, people pay off everything they owe, if possible. It is bad luck to begin a year in debt.
Children are given presents of money, wrapped in red envelopes. Red is the color of good fortune in China. Children and adults alike put on new clothing. The house is cleaned, and new paper pictures are put up. These pictures honor the household gods and have lucky phrases such as “springtime” or “good fortune arrives.” People wish one another gongxi facai, “congratulations, may you get rich.”
Perhaps the most important feature of a Chinese New Year celebration is a banquet. During the banquet, there are many special kinds of food that have lucky meaning: noodles for long life, fish for wealth (because the Chinese word for “fish,” yu, also sounds like the word for “abundance”), and sweet rice cakes for a rich, sweet life.
Chinese New Year begins sometime between late January and mid-February at the beginning of spring. But why isn't Chinese New Year celebrated on January 1? Let's find out! 
Copyright 2008. Adapted from "Celebrating New Year in Asia" by John Major
Video Credits
Producer: Deanna Lee
Associate Producers: Alex Farbstein, Andrew Smeall
Graphics: Rod Nunez
Special Thanks To:
Bo Law Kung Fu Association Lion Troupe led by Master Koh
ChinaSprout.com
Korean Cultural Service, New York
The National Folk Museum of Korea
Sinovision
Taipei Government Information Office
Trikai Media
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