Gong Xi Fa Cai, Guo Nian, Gung Hee Fat Choy, Xin Nian Kuai Le, Sun Nin Fy Lok, or however you wish to say it, Happy Chinese New Year! Although Gung Hee Fat Choy does not mean Happy New Year, it is an appropriate conveyance of good luck, happiness, longevity, and prosperity for the occasion.
It begins with the Spring Festival, signaling the end of the winter season when the first new moon appears and it ends with the Lantern Festival.
Here are some of our staff’s stories in celebrating Chinese New Year:
Pomai: I celebrate by sending my grandbabies the “red” envelopes.
Tom: When I was younger, all of my relatives used to go to the graveyard to pray (also known as “Qingming”) to our ancestors and give offerings, pop firecrackers to scare away evil spirits and clean their gravesite. Then we all go to the temple, pray again and burn Joss stick and Joss paper, then at night we all get together again to eat Jai, Those were the days. Now that we are much much older, everyone just does our own celebrations now.
Julie: We usually join our families at Kualapuu Market to give the Chinese dragon our red envelopes
