Cuisine & Culture the Chinese Family Way
Many Chinese believe that fish attracts the chi/good energy that brings good luck, abundance and prosperity (年年有余 Nian Nian You Yu – an abundant and surplus-filled year after year)! The number 9 in feng shui principles is the most auspicious and complete number. Hence in many Chinese paintings, pictures, ponds or aquariums, you will find nine fishes in it. In feng shui, they believe that eight fishes should be red or golden and one should be black (which symbolizes strength).
Want your home to shine like a star? Why not hang a few ang pow star lanterns around your home to impress your family and friends this coming Chinese New Year 2023! Chinese people love to decorate their homes with red lanterns during the Chinese New Year celebration as they symbolize wealth, fame and prosperity. It’s also to frighten away evil spirits.
Lucky lucky eight is so many Chinese people’s favourite number because eight (八 ba) sounds like 發 (fa) in Chinese, which means wealth, fortune, and prosperity! Hence many will pay extra for the number 8 in their phone number, car plate, house number and many more!
Impress your family and friends this Year of the Rabbit 2023 with this cute Chinese New Year Ang Pow candy pouch! This candy pouch is made from ang pow/red packet/red envelope and you can fill it with lots of sweeties and chocolates. If you are feeling rich, you could even fill them with cash instead! Everyone would love to receive one! Or you can make a few to decorate your house or your house plants.
Today, I am showing you how to make this ang pow gourd for Chinese New Year. You might be wondering what is the connection of gourd to the Chinese New Year. Gourd in Chinese is called 葫芦(hú lu) and it also sounds like 福禄(fú lù) in Chinese, which means fortune and wealth. Also, this fruit contains a lot of seeds and they symbolise productivity and fertility. Hence gourd is an auspicious item!
Want to send some love to your loved ones? Then come and make this ang pow heart lantern this Chinese New Year to show your appreciation! They can also be used for decorations for weddings! Just use wedding-themed ang pows instead.
Want to impress your family and friends this coming Chinese New Year 2023? Then come and try out this pop-out flower ang pow to decorate your home. This craft only uses 10 ang pows and will look great as a wall decoration. It is so easy to make too.
Looking to make a uniquely shaped ang pow lantern? Try out this cute long ang pow lantern. It is so easy to make. This long ang pow lantern display measures approximately 31 cm by 25 cm, not including the length of the Chinese knot tassel at the bottom or the red string on top. The rating of difficulty is 1.5 out of 5, which should take roughly 45 minutes to complete. Do check out my Chinese New Year Pinterest board for more inspiration.
Are you short of ang pows/red packets/red envelopes, but still want to make something for this coming Chinese New Year? Then why not try out this fan ang pow decoration tutorial as it only uses 10 or 12 ang pows, depending on the shape and size of the ang pow. This fan decoration will look great hanging on the ceiling or as a wall decoration.
Gong xi, gong xi! Have you ever wondered why mandarin oranges are so important during the Chinese New Year? First, let me explain that the Chinese pronunciation of mandarin orange sounds like gold and wealth in abundance. Since Chinese people love to say or listen to good words, they believe the auspicious items will bring them luck and fortune for the whole year. Hence mandarin oranges played a major part during this festive season. We will have mandarin orange ornaments hanging on the ceiling, ang pow displays (I will be showing you how to do it below), tangerine or kumquat tree plants and many more items throughout the whole house.
Ong lai! Ong lai! Did you know that the pineapple is known as ong lai in the Hokkien dialect? It also means prosperity comes/brings wealth! This is why we Chinese love to display pineapple ornaments throughout the house/workplace in the hope that it will bring their family/business lots of good fortune for the Chinese New Year.
Many years back, I wrote a blog post about Chinese New Year wall decoration and showcased a few examples. This coming Year of Water Rabbit 2023, instead of buying ready-made wall decorations, why not make your very own ang pow wreath? I will show you the step-by-step with photo illustrations and hope you like it.
This is a Chinese New Year lotus ang pow lantern. Have you made yours yet? If you have not, why not check out my Chinese New Year craft section for more inspiration? Today we are making this lotus ang pow lantern to decorate your home. This lantern is quite big (approximately 23 – 26 cm by 26 cm) and heavy as I have used 30 ang pows to make it.
Love a cube? Then why not come and make this unique cube ang pow lantern decoration for this coming Chinese New Year – The Year of Water Rabbit 2023! This is another easy craft to make and is suitable for older children. This also makes a great opportunity to learn about our Chinese New Year wall decoration and how we celebrate.
Who loves money? Chinese people believe that in the coming New Year, the house needs to fill with good fortune and wealth in order to be wealthy for the rest of the year. Hence they decorate their house full of auspicious items to welcome good fortune, wealth and prosperity! On the first day of the Chinese New Year, the God of Wealth will visit each household to bless the family with wealth. This is why we never sweep the floor for the first few days of the new year. It is bad luck if we sweep the floor, as we will sweep all the wealth away!
