5 Things About The Lunar New Year #BBYLunarNewYear @BestBuy

I have been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

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I grew up in the Philippines where the Lunar New Year is celebrated by many Chinese-Filipinos. A lot of Filipino superstitions and beliefs for the usual New Year’s celebration every January 1st are actually adapted from beliefs surrounding the Lunar New Year.

Now here are 5 things about the Lunar New Year that you might not know yet. Although of course if you’re in a city with lots of Asians, you probably already know these!

  1. The lion or a dragon dance during Lunar New Year celebrations is believed to ward off evil spirits and bad luck, and bring in good luck. The same is true for the color red. And firecrackers.
  2. You’re supposed to finish all your cleaning before the Lunar New Year’s Eve, and refrain from cleaning or sweeping during the Lunar New Year’s Day. Sweeping on that day might sweep all the good luck away. Just a superstition but a lot of people abide by it. It’s probably the worst day for some Asians who are obsessive-compulsive when it comes to cleanliness, but probably the best day for those who hate cleaning up. 😀
  3. The Chinese New Year Cake (also called tikoy or nian gao) tastes awesome! While you can get it at some Asian supermarkets throughout the year, there’s always an abundance of it during the Lunar New Year.  We usually cut it up into slices, dip it in beaten egg and fry it. It tastes soooo good that I always make sure we have some during the Lunar New Year season.
  4. The Lunar New Year is a fun time for kids and unmarried people because they’re usually given money in red envelopes called hong bao or ang pao.
  5. There are different ways of greeting others during the Lunar New Year but they pretty much sound the same. In Hokkien: Kiong Hee Huat Tsai. In Cantonese: Kung Hei Fat Choi. In Mandarin: Gong Xi Fa Cai. I’m pretty sure there are more variations to it given that the Chinese language has hundreds of dialects.

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Best Buy supports events which they believe are of importance to their employees, customers, and communities. And the upcoming Lunar New Year is one of those important celebrations.

For Asians all around the world, including Asian-Americans, Lunar New Year not only celebrates the beginning of the year but also the ending of winter and the anticipated arrival of spring. It is one of the most important holidays celebrated in Asian countries.

This upcoming year, Lunar New Year, which is based on the phases of the moon, falls on February 19th, 2015 of our Gregorian calendar. And Best Buy is helping celebrate the event with an Asian-inspired Gift Card and eGift Card.

These gift cards are available for purchase or gifting from BestBuy.com through February 22, 2015.

To have a gift card shipped to your address, click here.

For an eGiftcard, click here and scroll to the right under the “Occasions” tab until you see the red gift card with the two Koi fish. To order a hard copy of this gift card, click here.

 

 

I have been compensated in the form of a Best Buy Gift Card and/or received the product/service at a reduced price or for free.

Comments

5 Things About The Lunar New Year #BBYLunarNewYear @BestBuy — 17 Comments

  1. I work for a Japanese owned company and am learning about Asian holidays quite a bit. Thanks for sharing some more information.

  2. That’s interesting. I wasn’t aware of the lunar year at all. I guess you can learn something new every day!

  3. I really enjoyed reading your review about the 5 things about the lunar new year! I knew already about the color red and the fireworks, along with the lion or dragon dancing around. I never knew what they meant though. I also learned about the red envelope as well! Also, the cleaning and sweeping part (I haven’t been too big of a cleaner lately) Traditions are such a funny thing. Like our tradition is that on New Year’s Day, January 1st, you are to eat Pork and Saurkraut! This is supposed to bring you good luck for the new year (so far it hasn’t worked too well for us!) They say if you eat fowl that you will go backwards instead of forwards! Sheesh! I really loved learning all about the Lunar New Year’s and all of the traditions that go along with that! Thanks so much for the information! I truly appreciate it! Thanks again, Michele 🙂
    Michele Ash recently posted..National Brush Day Giveaway – 5 Winners!My Profile

  4. Very interesting…I learned alot about the Lunar Year…especially liked number 4…lol..getting money because you are a kid or unmarried…lol

  5. This is a great information filled post, I actually already knew all of this info. about the Lunar New Year. I think that Asian-inspired Best Buy gift card looks great, I’d love to have one. Thank you for sharing this post.

  6. No cleaning before new years—I think I can handle that. Especially since this next Lunar New Yew falls the day after my birthday–I think I will find a new red dress! 😀

  7. Our Grandchildren are Asian so I have learned some about the Asian traditions. Very interesting…I learned more about the Lunar Year. Thanks

  8. I did know a few of these but wasn’t sure on the calling of names.. I am a huge fan of international movies or Korean or just Foreign movies. I just find the culture fascinating and I hope this year to try some of that Chinese New Year Cake, I still have yet to try it 🙂 thanks for share

  9. That was very interesting! I learned a lot I didn’t know. It is always good to respect other peoples’ beliefs.

  10. Thank you for giving us the information about the lunar new year.l I did not know any of it and I am happy to have been enlightened