Happy Lunar New Year!

From Tuesday 1 February, many parts of the world will be celebrating the year of the tiger. In Sydney, you’ll find celebrations and delicious food on the streets of Haymarket (where our campus is). We asked UTS College student ambassadors, Henry and Xing, to share more about their traditions when it comes to the special time.

Take a look at which Lunar New Year traditions our students love. From all of us at UTS College, we wish you a happy and prosperous Lunar New Year!

New Year greetings

新年快乐, 恭喜发财! The phrase ‘wish you a happy and prosperous new year’ means that you’re blessed with a happy new year and big fortune. This is one of the most common greetings used during Lunar New Year and is exchanged to express best wishes for the future. Nowadays, new year greetings can be exchanged in many ways from a telephone call, a text message or even via Zoom. Though delivered in different ways, the good will conveyed in new year greetings remains the same.

Catch up with family

The Lunar New Year travel, Chūn Yùn, is the largest annual human migration in China. Like Christmas in Australia, Lunar New Year sees many people return home to spend time with family and relatives. Lunar New Year is also celebrated across Asia and Southeast Asia in countries like Vietnam, Thailand, Korea, the Phillippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia and many more - so family and friends from all over the world get to join in the fun!

Dumplings

Known as Jiǎo Zi. It’s common for Chinese people to make dumplings on the eve of Lunar New Year and eat them at midnight. This is a special time to welcome the new year and say goodbye to the past year. The shape of the dumpling resembles a Yuán Bǎo, which has the symbolism of attracting wealth. Meat and vegetables are usually chopped and mixed as stuffing for dumplings, which implies a happy reunion of all family members.

Dragon and lion dance

If you’ve spent time in Sydney’s Chinatown, you may have seen the dancing dragons and lions. The dragon and lion dance is believed to scare away evil spirits and bring good luck, joy, fortune and happiness. 

Red packets

Known as Hóng Bāo. During Lunar New Year, cash gifts are given in red packets, also called Yā Suì Qián. The elders will give red packets to the children in the hope that they will have a safe and peaceful new year. 

Spring Festival couplets

Spring festival couplets, also known as Chunlian, are a pair of scrolls containing poetic lines pasted on both sides of a door, written on red paper by ink. Families will paste them on the front door, hoping that the good blessings contained in the poetic couplets may eventually arrive.

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