Chinese new year!

That the beginning of Chinese New Year started with the fight against a mythical beast called the or "Year" in Chinese. Nian would come on the first day of New Year to devour livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nian ate the food they prepared, it wouldn’t attack any more people. One time, people saw that the Nian was scared away by a little child wearing red. The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the colour red. Hence, every time when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nian. From then on, the Nian never came to the village again. Eventually, the celebrations of the New Year vary from year to year. Now the practice of giving mandarin oranges to others is because the name is a homophone of "golden luck" or "gold and fortune". Eating yee sang or raw fish salad is also said to bring good luck. Another important aspect of Chinese New Year is yes, you guessed it: red packets filled with money, or more formally known as lai shi or lai see hóng bāo', ang pow, fung bao according to their respective dialects. These are handed out from married couples and the elderly to the unmarried juniors. The main guideline in giving out red packets is the amount of money in the red packets should be of even numbers, as odd numbers are associated with cash given during funerals. A married person would not turn down such a request as it would mean that he or she would be "out of luck" in the New Year. In the spirit of celebration, it is well-mannered to bid each other well. Quotes as Gōngxǐ fācái; Keong hee huat chye,or Gong hei fat choi, which loosely translate to "Congratulations and be prosperous". This is then followed with Xīnnián kuàilè which directly translates to “Happy new year”.But you could always follow the lead of these children, which most of you do anyway, by bidding Gōngxǐ fācái, hóngbāo nálái which means "Congratulations and be prosperous, now give me a red envelope!”8 is considered lucky for its homophone for “wealth”. 6 is also lucky for its homophone for smooth as in a smooth year ahead. This is just the tip of the iceberg on information regarding Chinese New Year. Anyway, at least... now you know.