Release the Tiger

The Ox screwed up, and the Rat didn’t do any better – now everyone is hoping for the year of the Tiger.

The Tiger comes third among the Chinese zodiac animals. The Jade Emperor decided that the order of the animals should be determined according to the order in which they arrived at his festival. Therefore, the Ox had left the night before and was the first to arrive. The Tiger arrived early the following morning and was second. But the Rat secretly rode the Ox and jumped down when it saw the Jade Emperor. Therefore, the Ox and the Tiger were pushed back to second and third places. Despite his protests, the Tiger had to settle for third place.

2022 promises to be an auspicious, exciting, and eventful year. This is accompanied by courage, assertiveness, self-confidence, and adventure. All strong traits that can also be associated with the Tiger.

Full of hope, prepare for the new year! Many migrant workers travel already to their home villages to see their children and parents. While many are hesitating (because of Corona), some haven’t seen their families in two years, China will be on its feet despite government pleas to avoid unnecessary travel.

Chinese New Year is the celebration in this country – like Christmas, birthday, and New Year all at once. It’s a celebration of family, gatherings, friends, and food. The first evening (January 31 this year) is the New Year’s Eve dinner 年夜饭 / Nián yèfàn. All family members must come back. Even if they can’t, the rest of the family will leave their spot empty and set out a spare set of supplies. In the legend of the origin of the Spring Festival, the monster Nian came at this point and terrorized the villages. The people hid in their homes, prepared a feast of offerings to the ancestors and gods, and hoped for the best.

Food has been prepared, and pre-ordered for weeks – there is a lot of activity on the wet markets:

As you couldn’t just buy everything in the past – and can’t even today in the countryside – the food of the year has been prepared for weeks. One method of preservation is drying the animals. Fish and poultry are must-haves for the Chinese New Year.

In Chinese, fish 鱼 (yú) has the same pronunciation as 余, meaning „excess“ or „extra.“ Therefore, the typical blessing is 年年有余 (Nián nián yǒuyú), wishing you to have a surplus (or fish) of food and money every year.

And so every meal has its role and meaning: spring rolls (eaten on the first day of the new year) and dumplings. In Chinese, the dumplings (jiǎo zi) sound like jiāo zi) (and here you can see that the right tone makes the music).交 (jiāo) means „exchange“ and 子 (zi) is the midnight hour. It is the exchange between the old year and the new year. All dumplings should be wrapped at this point. By eating dumplings, the old is sent away, and the new welcomed. Then there are noodles, certain types of vegetables, rice cakes, and much more – every family has its specialties and preparations.

Chinese New Year is a festival of giving. We also receive red packages every day – from friends and business partners. Dried meat, honey, nuts, and homemade rice cake.

But one of the most important things is the (?) “hong bao”—a red envelope filled with money. Children, the unmarried, and the unemployed usually receive these gifts.

So that the new year offers everything one hopes for, spring cleaning is also being done in China. The old dust has to get out and make room for the new.

Houses are decorated, red lanterns and banners are hung up, flowers in the colors Red and Gold are set up (of course also at our place). Yellow/Gold represent tolerance, patience, and wisdom gained from experience. Red is considered the color of life, which is said to have lucky properties.

I’ll keep you up to date on what’s going on… because the Chinese New Year festival lasts 15 days and still has some exciting traditions.