Season 6 Episode 5
Lunar New Years Traditions And Lion Dancing Ft. Veronica

Lunar New Years - a time of happiness, prosperity, and… a whole lot of food. Traditions vary from culture to culture but there are aspects of each Lunar New Year celebration that are more similar than different. Here are a few things we discussed in this episode!

Symbolic Food

In the Chinese culture, Lunar New Years is basically a giant holiday of word play. We eat things that sound like Fa or Yu as they symbolize wealth and prosperity. Another prevalent new years food would be dumplings, as they take on the shape of old Chinese money. What are some foods that your culture eat during Lunar New Years? We’re sure there are many others out there that we missed!

Traditions

What is a Lunar New Years without a giant spring cleaning? Cleaning before the new years is suppose to symbolize a fresh start and to sweep away the bad spirits and luck. Aside from cleaning, Chinese people will typically gather for an end of year dinner and beginning of the year dinner. Usually this is a must-attend meal filled with all your family members and constitutes the togetherness and bonds of the family.

Lion Dancing

The banging of the drums, the clashing of the symbols… it really does bring back many fond memories. Seeing a lion dance is an Asian childhood staple but it also carries a very symbolic meaning. Story has it that a village was once plagued by a bad spirit and they would chase it away making loud noises and pretending to be a lion - thus, the tradition of lion dancing was born. In present day, lion dancing is meant to scare away all bad luck for happy occasions such as a grand opening of a business, a wedding, or… Lunar New Years. Accompanied by the rhythm of the drums and the explosive sounds of the fire crackers, watching a lion dance show is truly a sight to behold.

As always, listen to the full episode to hear in-depth explanations and discussions!