For the Chinese, this 2010 is the Year of the tiger, which effectively starts on the Saturday of February 14. This is the time when millions of overseas Chinese will go back home to their families to spend the holiday and have a wonderful dinner together. This is a time when every China town all over the globe will be filled with much merrymaking, dramatic fireworks, dancing dragons, singing gongs, and happy smiles.
No doubt, the Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in history for Chinese calendar, with the celebration taking as long as 15 days. Even people who don't have Chinese blood in them have come to celebrate and respect this holiday. Every year, Chinese spend lavishly on these performance arts in the hopes of bringing good luck and prosperity.
The Spring Festival is the most important and traditional festival for Chinese, because it starts from the beginning of spring. People will hold this festival at the last day of every year which is called New Years Eve. People will keep vigil, and all the members of a family will hold together to have a big dinner on that night. It means the old year has already past and after people make a conclusion for the year, they hope to have a new and different year next.
And just as the New Year is a time when they spend thousands on food and fireworks and gifts, it is also a high time consulting their fate in Chinese horoscopes and astrology. Chinese people, after all, are among the most superstitious people in the world. Superstitions, in fact, abound during the Chinese New Year itself, both before and during the holiday. On the days before the celebration, Chinese families spend their time cleaning their houses to sweep away the bad luck for the coming New Year. On the holiday eve, buying a pair of shoes is considered bad luck, since according to them the word "shoes" is a homophone for the word "rough" in Cantonese. Eating candy, on the other hand, brings good luck in a way that their coming year will become sweet.
The Chinese Horoscope cycle is enhanced with the divisions of the twelve Chinese horoscope signs that are represented by twelve carefully chosen animals. These are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig. The animals where not selected by luck, but each one of them is highly associated with the human culture and way of life. There's also a legend that explains in detail how the 12 animals where selected. According to the scriptures, the Chinese god of earth conducted a race between all the animals on planet earth. The first twelve animals would represent the twelve astrological signs. The twelve Chinese Horoscope signs shape the twelve-year cycle. When the year-cycle ends, a new one begins by repeating itself.
In the new year there is now a regular on the popular modern society do. Traditionally red packets are also handed out to younger generation by their parents, grand parents, relatives, and even close neighbors and friends during Chinese New Year. Nowadays giving red packets as a bonus at the year-end by employers becomes popular and Chinese new year hamper is also a tradition of giving to business associates or relatives.
Giving Chinese new year hamper to employees prior to the New Year is also a good idea. This can be either a gift or a bonus. If it is as a gift, the money should be just right for a gift. If as a bonus, you may enclose a check in the parcel gift and hand it out in an office.
Source: http://www.articlealley.com/article_1293933_51.html
