Vanessa Winters

van.c.winters@gmail.com

AS the Chinese New Year holiday approaches, my 6-year-old son has been excited about getting a lot of hongbao (lucky money given in red envelopes) from family. He is also excited to share this tradition with his kindergarten classmates, most of whom have yet to learn other traditions from around the world.

As my son and I started putting up Year of the Dragon-themed décor around our house, it made me realize I am celebrating the holiday with him the same way I celebrated when I was his age. Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year isn’t exactly tied to just China, but to a lot of Asian countries as well. The holiday is not only observed solely in China and Asia, but also in other parts of the world with a significant Asian community.

Back when I was a child, Chinese New Year was exciting — I received what we call “angpao” from my maternal grandparents and enjoyed nice meals in various Chinatowns where we lived at the moment. My favorites have been the ones in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Manila. Later, when I was in high school, I started cooking “tikoy” for my father, which was one of his favorite treats for the holiday.

As soon as I moved to China over 15 years ago, the holiday started to hold more meaning to me. I discovered that the Chinese terms I have known originated from Hokkien, a dialect of the Min people from Fujian Province. During the first term of my Chinese classes in Beijing, I learned that “angpao” is hongbao, and “tikoy” is tianguo (甜粿) or sweet pastry, the Hokkien-style rice cake. The rice cake I grew up to is made of glutinous rice and taro, and I would slice it into rectangular strips, dip it in egg, and lightly fry it.

Rice cake, or niangao, where the characters are homophone to those meaning “a higher year,” implies promotions or prosperity year after year.

Knowing these, I realized that this is part of my heritage and that most of my maternal ancestors were overseas Chinese from Fujian.

My son further asked me if there are stories about how people started giving out hongbao. We looked up legends about this tradition, and the one he liked the most was about the demon “Nian.” In ancient times, Nian terrorized children while they slept on Chinese New Year’s Eve; and parents would keep their children awake all night to protect them. Once, a child was given eight coins to play with to stay awake, but soon after he drifted off to sleep with the coins on his pillow. Nian appeared, and as he was about to touch the child, the coins, which were the Eight Immortals in disguise, produced a powerful light that drove him away.

Today, these envelopes symbolize the coins, and are sometimes called yasuiqian (压岁钱) or “suppressing Sui money,” as “Sui” is the other Chinese character for “Nian.”

In addition, there are various rules in giving and receiving hongbao, which I have learned growing up and now practice with my son. Usually, clean and crisp banknotes are placed inside the hongbao, and the amounts should not contain the number four in them, since it is considered bad luck. In our family, we used to kneel in front of our parents, grandparents, and other older relatives to receive hongbao, and we receive it with both hands. We also do not open it in front of the giver.

Nowadays, with the prevalence of digital payments, hongbao can be exchanged on WeChat and Alipay, or any preferred money transfer apps. Sending and receiving hongbao are not just for this festival, but are for other occasions too, as a way of sharing good luck and blessings.

Likewise, other countries such as the U.S. now recognize Chinese New Year as a holiday, especially in states with a large Asian population. I have since expressed greater appreciation for these family traditions, and my hope is that my son would also keep this alive for the next generation.

So, to everyone in Shenzhen who come from all over China and the world, I wish you all a happy and prosperous Year of the Dragon!

(The author is a copy editor of Shenzhen Daily.)