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It seems that we have only just welcomed the New Year, and yet very soon, we are going to celebrate it again! This time, the Chinese New Year. With New Year close on the heels of Christmas, the end of the year is more often than not a busy festive period in many countries. But in Singapore, and other countries that celebrate the Lunar New Year, this sense of continuous festivity is felt even more keenly.<\/p>\n
Chinese New Year falls on January 31 this year, which is pretty early. So even before greetings of \u2018Happy New Year\u2019 subsided, Chinese New Year music was already starting to fill the streets. In fact, a friend commented that the songs were already blasting away in some shops right after Christmas!<\/p>\n
Last year I introduced some Chinese New Year expressions. If you haven\u2019t picked up the phrases, check them out here<\/a>. This year, I\u2019d like to talk about \u201c\u62dc\u5e74\u201d (b\u00e0i ni\u00e1n). \u201c\u62dc\u5e74\u201d (b\u00e0i ni\u00e1n) basically means offering New Year greetings, and it typically takes the form of visiting. There are regional differences though; the following is what we do here in Singapore.<\/p>\n This is largely dependent on the type of relationship. On \u201c\u521d\u4e00\u201d (ch\u016by\u012b), the first day, we go to the husband\u2019s parents house. That is, the children\u2019s \u201c\u7237\u7237\u201d (y\u00e9ye) and \u201c\u5976\u5976\u201d (n\u01ceinai). (Click here <\/a>for family relationships.) Next we visit the wife\u2019s parents, that is, \u201c\u5916\u516c\u201d (w\u00e0ig\u014dng) and \u201c\u5916\u5a46\u201d (w\u00e0ip\u00f3). This can be done on the second day \u201c\u521d\u4e8c\u201d (ch\u016b\u2019\u00e8r), but in tiny Singapore, you don\u2019t have to travel half a day to visit your parents, so this is often done on the first day too. After having visited both sets of parents, we move on to other relatives, followed by friends, colleagues, business partners and the like. There are also mass celebrations held by organizations, called \u201c\u56e2\u62dc\u201d (tu\u00e1nb\u00e0i).<\/p>\n In Singapore, gifting during CNY visits isn\u2019t much of a headache, nor will it cost you an arm and a leg. Just two mandarin oranges are enough. This seems to be a tradition from \u5e7f\u4e1c\u6f6e\u6c55 (Guangdong Chaoshan) in Southern China<\/a>. In Mandarin, mandarin oranges are called \u201c\u67d1\u201d (g\u0101n), which are also known as \u201c\u6a58\u5b50\u201d\/\u201c\u6854\u5b50\u201d (j\u00fazi). \u201c\u6854\u201d (j\u00fa) rhymes with \u201c\u5409\u201d (j\u00ed), which means auspicious, and so it is given with the hope that the year will be \u201c\u5927\u5409\u5927\u5229\u201d (d\u00e0 j\u00ed d\u00e0 l\u00ec) \u2013 greatly auspicious and smooth-sailing. The reason why we offer two oranges, not one or three, is because even numbers are considered auspicious and the number two is often the preferred number. (More on numbers here<\/a>.) There are even cute mini bags specially made for carrying your mandarin oranges. In return, the host will also give you two oranges. So it is, in effect, a game of orange exchange.<\/p>\n This is what kids look forward to the most. \u201c\u7ea2\u5305\u201d (h\u00f3ngb\u0101o), also known as \u2018ang pao\u2019 in Singapore (from its dialect pronunciation), literally means \u2018red envelope\u2019, and it is a monetary gift, typically given by adults to children. By default, if you are not married, you are eligible to collect ang paos too. Now that there are so many people choosing to remain single, it is indeed oftentimes awkward for both the giver and the receiver. To give or not to give? To take or not to take? Tough question! On the other hand, once you are married, it is your turn to give. To your parents, your children, and also children who come to pay you a visit. This is where it might cost some people an arm and a leg!<\/p>\n In recent years, instead of staying in the country and going through the routines of the Chinese New Year, there is an increasing number of people opting for \u201c\u907f\u5e74\u201d (b\u00ec ni\u00e1n). The term itself means to avoid the New Year, but essentially it simply means going abroad. What is there to avoid? Mostly, the incessant questioning from relatives. If you are not married, every year you will be bombarded with the question, \u201cwhen are you getting married?\u201d. And if you are married without kids, the question will be, \u201cwhen are you going to have kids?\u201d Also, for people who have lots of connections and thereby having to give red packets even to kids who barely have any relation with them, this might be a great escape indeed! But well, I\u2019m sure there are those who simply want to enjoy the long holiday somewhere they fancy, just for the sake of it.<\/p>\n Have you been to any CNY visits? If you\u2019ve had any interesting experiences, drop a comment to share!<\/p>\n \u65b0\u5e74\u5feb\u4e50 (x\u012bn ni\u00e1n ku\u00e0i l\u00e8)\uff0c\u606d\u559c\u53d1\u8d22 (g\u014dng x\u01d0 f\u0101 c\u00e1i)<\/a>!<\/p>\n It seems that we have only just welcomed the New Year, and yet very soon, we are going to celebrate it again! This time, the Chinese New Year. With New Year close on the heels of Christmas,...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4676,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[293,78,82],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-culture","category-mandarin"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tWhose house? In which order?<\/span><\/h3>\n
What to bring?<\/span><\/h3>\n
Red Packets<\/span> \u7d05\u5305 (h\u00f3ngb\u0101o)<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n
The Great Escape<\/span> \u907f\u5e74 (b\u00ec ni\u00e1n)<\/span><\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/div>\nIf you’ve enjoyed this, don’t forget to hit one of the sharing buttons below, and do join me on<\/span> Google+<\/span><\/a>\/ Facebook<\/span><\/a>\/\u00a0Youtub<\/span><\/a>e\/\u00a0Twitter<\/a>\/ Pinterest<\/a><\/span>\u00a0<\/span>!<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"