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).
If you can’t find it, make it yourself. This is one of my mottos in life. Many times, I have found it hard to buy accessories online to decorate my ang bao lanterns or my ang bao crafts. As these low value ang bao accessories are not worth listing individually online, many are sold in night markets, especially in Singapore Chinatown or Asian craft shops. If you live in a country as we do in the UK, we can’t even find them in any local Chinese supermarkets.
Last month, I made a Chinese New Year ang pow wreath for my lotus lantern and now I am back with more for more creative crafts, which I will call a Hong Bao Wall Wreath. In fact, hong bao and ang pow are the same things. Hong bao is the Mandarin pronunciation and whilst ang pow or ang bao is the dialect pronunciation.
Running out of ang pows (red envelope/red packet) to decorate your home? Try this paper cutting flower to decorate your home this coming Lunar New Year! This is a very easy craft to follow and great for younger children to do.
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.
