Quad City residents are invited to join the local celebration of Chinese New Year on February 20, at the LULAC Club, 4224 Ricker Hill, Davenport, Iowa.
Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is the most important of the traditional Chinese holidays, which begins in February 14, Valentine's Day, this year. The new year is celebrated for 15 days in China and many other southeastern countries in the world.
The event is co-sponsored by the U.S.-China People's Friendship Association, The Quad City Chinese Christian Church, and The Quad City Chinese Association.
The evening festivities will include dinner and a program. Prior to the dinner at 5 p.m., authentic chefs will demonstrate preparing the traditional "jiaozi" or dumplings, vegetable sculptures, and "Shaomai", starting at 3:30 p.m. There will be a craft activity for children, and demonstrations and audience participation in calligraphy.
Ticket prices are $5 for children twelve and under, and $10 for adult with reservation before February 18th, or $15 for adult and $8 for children at the door, Children under 3 are free. Reservations can be sent to Susan @ s.leuthauser@mchsi.com or leave a voice message at 563-332-1576.
The New Year, "Chuxi," begins on the first day of the new moon in the first lunar month and ends on the fifteenth day of the full moon. "Chu" means change, and "xi" means eve. In China, each year is associated with one of twelve animals in the zodiac. This is the year of the Tiger.
Although the Chinese calendar traditionally does not use continuously numbered years, outside China its years are often numbered from the reign of Huangdi. But at least three different years numbered 1 are now used by various scholars, making the year 2010 "Chinese Year" 4707 or 4646.
Traditional beliefs advise that to be born under the sign of a particular animal makes a person prone to certain humors and personality traits. New Year's is celebrated as a family affair, a time for reunion and thanksgiving. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu, symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.
According to tales and legends, the beginning of Chinese New Year started with the fight against a mythical beast called the Nien (pinyin: nián). Nien would come on the first day of New Year to devour livestock, crops, and even villagers, especially children. To protect themselves, the villagers would put food in front of their doors at the beginning of every year. It was believed that after the Nien ate the food they prepared, it wouldn't attack any more people.
One time, people saw that the Nien was scared away by a little child wearing red. The villagers then understood that the Nien was afraid of the color red. Hence, every time when the New Year was about to come, the villagers would hang red lanterns and red spring scrolls on windows and doors. People also used firecrackers to frighten away the Nien.
From then on, Nien never came to the village again. The Nien was eventually captured by hong jun lao zu, an ancient Taoist monk. The Nien became hong jun lao zu's mount.
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