Prepare Yourselves this Chinese New Year!

With the Chinese New Year closing in quickly, now is the best time for fellow Chinese people to start preparing themselves for the upcoming New Year! With less than a month left on the calendar, the atmosphere for the upcoming Chinese New Year in Malaysia is now in full effect and much anticipated by the people celebrating the festival around the country.

The Chinese New Year celebrations in Malaysia are always something truly spectacular and amazing to witness. The families that gather, the atmosphere when you go out to shopping malls and even out on the streets, the designs around Kuala Lumpur as well as the much anticipated dances and performances all around the city makes this such a memorable experience and something that not only fellow Chinese in the country look forward to but basically all the ethnicities do look forward to it as well!

But during certain times when you have specific celebrations as major as this closing in rapidly, more often than not, we tend to overlook certain aspects and details in which we have to prepare ourselves in order to have a smooth and splendid time throughout the New Year celebrations. This can actually range anywhere from preparing your houses to preparing yourselves even for this celebration. The Chinese New Year preparation for the new lunar year often tends to begin weeks in advance. After all, stepping into the New Year on the right note and foot is crucial, no pun intended.

It puts into motion the potential for the upcoming next 12 months. Luck, health, as well as prosperity need to know that they are more than welcomed to hang around and are invited in the upcoming year. Just as the usual January 1 New Year celebrations, observing Chinese New Year is about having the opportunity for a fresh and a brand new start. Conveniently, the Lunar New Year is frequently later in the months of January or February. If you have already broken those January 1 resolutions that you initially had, you could start over for the upcoming Chinese New Year! Regardless, a number of old traditions as well as a handful of superstitions have always had people throughout the world make Chinese New Year preparations way earlier leading up to the 15 day event.



PREPARING FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR
For the most part, unlike the usual January 1 New Year's Eve celebrations, the Chinese New Year festival is always taken to be the most important 15 days of the year. It sets the potential and opens up the doors for the upcoming year's prosperity and fortune, and all the good things that it has to offer and bring for you and your family. All necessary measures are taken in order to increase the odds of receiving as much good fortune as possible during the Chinese New Year celebrations. Even windows are left opened in order to allow good luck to come inside!

SPRING CLEANING FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR
With so much on your plate with what needs to be done, the Chinese New Year preparations usually tend to begin a few weeks prior to the festival itself, especially if you will be intending on hosting a party. Traditionally, the houses are swept, cleaned, as well as decorated for the optimal feng shui.

The spring cleaning carried out prior to the Chinese New Year is usually the most thorough and proper of the entire year and it is the time for you to clean out all those drawers! Broken and damaged goods and items, dead or decaying plants, and all clutter must be thrown out in order to make room for bigger and better things that are sure to come your way soon. Complete and finish all of your cleaning before it is the time for the holidays to arrive.

Sweeping your house during the Chinese New Year is often considered unlucky, as you will and could be sweeping away the new, incoming good luck and good fortune! Also, remember to avoid doing any cutting around the house during the Chinese New Year. Prune plants and shrubs prior to the holidays beginning. Red banners are also adorned with Chinese calligraphy which is often known as chunlian which are hung around the house in hopes of ushering in the prosperity in the New Year.



LOOKING FRESH FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR
After that, since cutting done during the Chinese New Year is considered unlucky by many, hair and fingernails should be trimmed in advance and prior to the Chinese New Year festival. Most of the families want to look their best for visits with their loved ones and for photographs, so new clothing and accessories, often the preferred color of choice is red or any other auspicious colors depending on the year’s trends, are often purchased. Even if red just is not your thing or your color, you can just get by with a pair of red underwear during the Chinese New Year and yes, this is a tradition among many Chinese people! Even as something as subtle as a red bracelet, a piece of jewelry, or a ribbon tied around your wrist will do.



SHOPPING FOR CHINESE NEW YEAR
With many businesses closing their shutters down during the first few days of the holidays and festivals, shopping should be done and completed as early as you can and as early as possible. As with every festival or holiday, stores tend to have special sales and promotions to cash in.

Here are certain things that you want to keep in mind. For food, groceries for the festival dinners as well as the regular meals need to be purchased in anticipation and before the holiday. Store shelves are more often than not ransacked the week prior to the Chinese New Year. You are surely going to be traveling or hosting guests, with a potential of both, so a lot of snacks are in order.

Also, dumplings are a must since they are also good for prosperity. When it comes to clothing, the Chinese New Year is a time for you to look your best which means new wardrobes are purchased for family gatherings, temple visits, as well as public celebrations. Red is often the color of choice. White and black clothing should be avoided all together during the Chinese New Year. Do not forget to purchase red underwear or a red bracelet for the days that you cannot bear to wear another red outfit!

As for gifts, small gifts and tokens of love and appreciation are exchanged during the Chinese New Year, so purchase candies, small cakes, trinkets, and also candles. Children usually get money or sweets placed inside of red envelopes famous as hong bao. Alcohol, tea, fruit, flowers, and also sweets make great Chinese New Year gifts for party hosts and also, do not show up empty handed! If you choose to give fruits, give oranges and ensure that the basket does not include pears. Ignore gifts that are considered unlucky, such as umbrellas.

SETTLE OLD DEBTS
As an act of good karma, old debts of all sorts to friends and family are settled and paid off prior to the Chinese New Year. This is the time for you to return borrowed items or even give your neighbor back that tool you borrowed from them months earlier. If your friendship with someone has worn thin, make an effort of reaching out to that person. Forgive and forget grudges, and give people who have wronged you in some way a chance to start fresh and new.

PREPARE FOR GOOD LUCK
The whole purpose of the Chinese New Year preparations goes above and beyond getting ready to enjoy feasts, fireworks, lion dances, and drinking sessions, but although there are plenty of those! It is the time for the family reunions, new beginnings, renewed romance, and also new potentials for a year to come. The 15 day Lunar New Year holiday sets the tone for the upcoming year for you and your family. Every aspect of your daily life, down to the minutest detail, during the Chinese New Year celebrations should be based on attracting luck and good fortune for the rest of the year.

Finally, the Chinese New Year is that time for you to start fresh, attract positivity and prosperity and move forward into the New Year with the right and a determined mind set. Doing this opens up a whole year in front of you in which you can work towards and achieve anything that you want for yourself and your family. In advance, Happy Chinese New Year folks!