Chinese New Year Gift
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It is easy to find a Chinese New Year gift. In order to choose a present that goes well with the Chinese tradition we will give you a short summary Chinese New year tradition. We will explain what traditional gifts are given so you can choose a great gift for your friends and family. In addition we will recommend some homemade gifts for Chinese New Year.

Chinese New Year is celebrated with family and friends. New Years dinner is a big event. It is only natural that the next custom that developed is giving gifts.

Introduction

Chinese New Year starts on the first day of the first month of the

Chinese year. Each New Year has its' own animal sign. On the year 2010 the Chinese New Year will start on February 14 (it will be the year of the tiger). On the year 2011 the Chinese New Year will start on February 3 (it will be the year of the rabbit). On the year 2012 the Chinese New year will start on January 23 (it will be the year of the dragon).

In Chinese it is written .

Chinese New Year is an important date in China and in other countries such as Korea, Vietnam and Japan. The Chinese population in many countries such as the US, Canada and Australia celebrate the Chinese new year in traditional ways.

Myth and legend

Some tales about the Chinese New Year are that there was a fight between a beast called the Nien. This mythological beast would come on the first day of the New year and eat all living creatures he could find. It was believed that if villagers would put food for the Nien They would be protected. Another story related to the Nien is that the villagers saw that the Nien stayed away from a child who was wearing red. The villagers started to use the red color to scare away the Nien every

Chinese New year. People would hang Red lanterns to scare off the evil beast. The legend ends with the Nien being captured by a monk and becoming his mount.

The Importance of Red

The myth of Nien brought the red color onto the New Year celebrations. The red color is the celebration color of Chinese New Year. Many Blessings of Wealth and happiness are exchanged. Kids receive money in red paper envelopes. Children sometimes receive chocolate coins instead of money. These red envelopes are given also to married couples and from elders to their unmarried children. The money that is put in them comes in even numbers. Odd numbers are given in funerals.
A great gift is a red diamond-shaped poster with the character 福. This character symbolizes good fortune and happiness.

Red symbolizes joy, virtue, truth and sincerity.

Customary Gifts

It is customary to exchange small gifts on Chinese New Year. Usually these are small gifts. Even sweets are considered traditional gifts. When given a chance, gifts can carry different icons. A picture of a Koi fish symbolizes surplus or success. A present with Chinese calligraphy, paper cuts and couplets are appreciated. Lion and dragons are used to scare the evil spirits. Pictures of those animals are used in many different gifts. Pictures of fortune gods (Che Kung and Cai Shin Ye) are good presents.

Homemade Chinese New Year Gift

Now that we established the Chinese New Year traditions it is time to see how we can put it into use making homemade presents. We know red is a good color. We have some symbols of Joy and luck in Chinese. Now it's time to take some of our great presents and give them a spin for the New Year.

A kite with a picture of a dragon

A red luck bracelet

A brooch. Use the red color. Write the character that symbolizes joy.

A heart necklace. You can choose a different shape.

If you want to choose more gifts just go to our extensive gift index.

Happy Chinese New Year all.