Lunar New Year :: 农历新年 - Eva Varga

As students of Mandarin, we celebrate Chinese or Lunar New Year.  The biggest event during Chinese New Year is the family dinner on the eve of the lunar new year.  The dinner consists of dumplings (represents wealth), fish (for abundance), and new year cake (for prosperity).  Children receive ‘red envelopes’ or (Hóngbāo 红包) with money inside as blessings.

Chinese New Year is a time when families and friends wear new clothes from head to toe (symbolizes a new beginning in the new year) and greet each other. Traditionally, people would set off firecrackers to scare off the mythical beast called Nian 年.

This year, the kids learned a song as well (sang to the tune of Ol’ My Darling). It was such a fun lesson. We had earlier learned to sing Silent Night in Mandarin and thereby we had that melody in our heads, causing us to goof up occasionally (hence his comment at the end of the video).

新年好呀

新年好呀， 新年好呀

祝贺大家新年好

我们唱歌， 我们跳舞

祝贺大家新年好

xīn nián hǎo ya
xīn nián hǎo ya,    xīn nián hǎo ya
zhù hè dà jiā xīn nián hǎo
wǒ men chàng gē,    wǒ men tiào wǔ
zhù hè dà jiā xīn nián hǎo

Happy New Year
Happy new year, happy new year
Wish you all a happy new year
We sing and we dance
Wish you all a happy new year