Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is nearly upon us so we thought we would have a little explore about this exciting festival from the country where our bamboo, and our beloved mascot, Colin, come from!

Chinese New Year has been going on for 3000 years and celebrates the end of winter and the beginning of Spring.  It’s all about family, food, parades, and good luck for the new year – what’s not to love!

This year, is the year of the Dragon – scary! But we are sure the dragon is no match to our equally fearsome, yet cuddly, Colin the panda! It is a sign of power and luck and the first time we are seeing the dragon make an appearance since the year 2000!  

It starts on Saturday 10th February and ends with the Lantern Festival on the 24th. Chinese New Year traditions often centre around ushering out the old year and bringing luck and prosperity into the new one! 

The celebrations and traditions vary between families, but here’s some of things you can expect: 

• Big family reunions, people travel far and wide for this special celebration!
• Traditional foods like dumplings and mooncake
• Giving out Hongbao – these are red envelopes that have blessings and money in them given out by family and friends.
• Dragon and Lion dances – these are local parades performed to give luck in the new year and get rid of evil spirits! Chinatowns around the world will be putting on entertainment so be sure to check it out if you live locally!
• The colour red – to sweep away bad luck make sure to dress in it, put up red lanterns (reusable of course!) and other decorations.

We love to celebrate traditions from all around the world, and we hope this gives you some ideas of how to ring in the Year of the Dragon!

Happy Chinese New Year from all of us at The Cheeky Panda and Colin! Wishing you all good luck and prosperity for the year ahead.

Cheeky regards, and we will see you next time!