Lunar New Year and Spring Holiday

There are three important festivals in Taiwan, and the most important one is lunar New Year’s Eve which is also called Spring Holiday and different from New Year that people yell for final countdown in New York. We usually have five days in the holiday vacation which is like Christmas in Western culture. During the first two days and the day before it, we have to clean house, welcome New Years with celebrations, and go back to mothers’ old homes.

The day before New Year is usually the busiest day in the year; we have many things to do: cleaning, special dinner, and fireworks for celebration. First, people clean their houses completely which means they send old things and the year away and welcome the new one, and we wear new clothing which used to be red. Second, for the celebration, we always have a plentiful dinner at home, and closer family will gather and have fun. In my family, my parents prepare dinner with my grandmother; the process can improve the relationship between families, and there is a tradition: hand-made meat balls and big hotpot which means “together”. After the dinner, family talk to each other and care about how’s their life going? Finally, the thing that all children look forward for entire year is coming- the red packet (envelope) which adults usually put cash inside and means "money warding off evil spirits". Children put them under their pillows while they sleep on New Years’ Eve, but some of them won’t sleep just pull all nighters playing games and fireworks used to scare away “Monster Nian,” which is a made up creature.

In order to welcome New Years’ Day, whole family members usually wake up early, go to worship ancestors, and visit other relatives with New Year’s gifts that mean: “Congratulations! You will be safe and well this new year.” People have a great lunch with the items after worship which means “peaceful and fine”.

According traditions, all married women then go back to their parents’ home on the second day of New Years, so that their parents can know that their daughters are fine and good wives in husbands’ homes and treat daughters and their husbands meals.

These traditional celebrations show Spring Vacation is a meaningful family holiday and gives us a good reason for having a break to release the whole year’s stress and fatigue.