Chinese New Year celebration

Dragon Year (2012)

        Time is passing fast, it just like a blink of eyes then it's the arrival of Chinese New Year...and now i am busy celebrating Chinese New Year. :-). Chinese are celebrating Chinese New Year (CNY) for 15 days. How do we celebrate CNY for 15 days?

        Here is it....Usually we will be having reunion dinner on the eve of CNY follow by the first day of CNY, the whole family members will be having varieties of meatless breakfast together before heading to friends or relatives' houses. Why is it meatless meals for the 1st day? It's due to in our belief, we do not want to kill or sacrifice any living creatures on the earth especially poultry. Whereas for the second day, there will be a great meal for the day and it's mostly meats. Each of these dishes indicate an auspicious meaning. For instance:

• Fish- means every year also have balance or a lot of cash in the bank account or purse/ wallet.
• Prawn- means happy always.
• Mushrooms-means one brand new year is doing better or going smooth than the previous year.
• Chinese herb soup- means going smooth for throughout the year.
• Meat cook with pineapple- pineapple indicates bringing luck and wealth to the family.
• Lettuce- means have a lively life and stay active throughout the year. 

"Yu sang " (Prosperity toss)

        On the 7th day is also known as "ren ri" which means the day where the Gods create a human and let go to the earth.We will be having "Lou Sang" dinner together. "Lou Sang" is also known as prosperity toss in which it usually consists of strips of raw fish (commonly-salmon), mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments, among other ingredients. "Yu sang" literally means "raw fish" but since "fish" is commonly conflated with its homophone "abundance", therefore, "Yu sang" is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor. 

     On the 15th day of CNY, is also Chinese's valentine's day. On that day, the guys and girls which are single and available will bring their own mandarin oranges heading towards the river. They will write down their wishes or contact number on the skin of the oranges, make the wishes and then throw into the river. After that, people will use a net to take others' mandarin orange in the river. Hence, if possible, they might become a couple then. That's the end of CNY. :-) 

More information on the foods, please refer:
http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/830840
http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/cat/627/
http://www.straight.com/article-586036/vancouver/little-yu-sang-fine-water-dragon-year