Tag Archives: China

Celebrating Lunar New Year – 2022 Year of the Tiger

Lunar New Year is the most important holiday in China. Tied to the Chinese lunar calendar, the holiday began as a time for feasting and honoring ancestors as well as deities. Lunar New Year celebrations begin on February 1st.

The year 2022 is slated to be the year of the tiger. The tiger is known as the king of all beasts in China and the zodiac is associated with strength and bravery.

Chinese people celebrate Lunar New Year with the traditional greeting, “Kung hei fat choi”  Sounds like (gung – hay – fah – choy) in Cantonese!

Lunar New Year covers a long span, not just one day. Two weeks is the typical time frame. Traditionally this time is used to celebrate with family and friends. It’s important to start the new year with a clean home. Red envelopes are handed out to others, typically children or young people, containing Lucky Money. Foods are important in the celebration and have meaning. Long noodle dishes, for instance, represent longevity or long life, while dumplings represent wealth. Interestingly, fortune cookies are not authentic Chinese treats, though enjoyable and fun, you can read more about their unique history here.

You can read more about Lunar New Year here.

Crafts, recipes, activities, and games related to Lunar New Year can be found on the APIA Winter Pinterest board. Try some of these great ideas!

Arts & Crafts:

Kids in the Kitchen:

Virtual Field Trips can be a great way for kids to learn and have new experiences. Here are a couple of virtual field trips that fit this theme:

Videos – Online you can find many examples of celebrations. Please review the content for appropriateness for your own host kids before watching with the children.

Webcams – You can do a google search for Lunar New Year celebrations with webcams. Here is a popular one for the upcoming season:

Books – Check out your local library or bookseller for books to order / reserve and pick up /read online:

Post Courtesy of Cynthia Chan (Au Pair in America)

Photo: Jimmie Quick 

Life in America – Candy

This is the first installment of a new series of posts asking au pairs about their impressions of life in America.  The first au pair to take part is WenWen (nickname Candy) from China.

Candy visiting Great Falls Park in Virginia

Candy visiting Great Falls Park in Virginia

5 Things that Surprised You Most About Life in the U.S.

  1. Good protection on nature environment (such as trees, parks etc.)
  2. Open minded
  3. Some things are expensive.
    • College and university tuition is really, really high, not only for international students, but for U.S citizens who are not in the same state as the college need to pay out-of-state fee.
    • Need to pay for everything, even prescription, and too expensive.
    • Mostly, need to pay tax for everything.
  4. Good education for children with special needs in school. The class I went to do volunteering has four kids, one teacher, and two or three educators; summer school for special needs children.
  5. Lots of NGOs (non-government organizations) and volunteers

Any of those things you were were surprised to find you like?

# 1, 4 & 5 above

Anything exactly like you had seen in American movies or TV?

People are open minded

Anything very different from what you had seen in American movies or TV?

The food was not delicious to me.  I thought it would be when seeing it before.

Best Experiences Living in the U.S.

  1. Have met lots of nice people  (no matter they are Americans, Asian Americans, African Americans, etc.) everywhere I’ve been to.
  2. Went to a special education school and some NGOs to do volunteering.
  3. Have learned about Buddhism.

May you be well and happy!
愿我(您)无害,愿我(您)无怨,愿我(您)无恼,愿我(您)快乐!