CHINESE NEW YEAR, LAMPS AND LANTERNS ON 31 JANUARY TO CELEBRATE THE YEAR OF THE HORSE

On January 31, the inhabitants of the land of the dragon celebrating the New Year waiting for the year of the Snake leave space to that of the Horse, the seventh sign of the zodiac Chinese astrology . According to the horoscope , people born in the new year will be sociable , determined and full of energy , not patients, but stubborn enough to achieve great successes especially in the professional field.
Also called the Spring Festival , Chinese New Year is one of the most important traditional celebrations and festivities are prolonged for a period of fifteen days ending February 14 with the feast of lanterns. While the rest of the world lovers exchange flowers and chocolates for Valentine’s Day, is celebrated on the fifteenth day of the lights and the banner of creativity. Chinese families come out in the streets holding lighted lanterns and colored to guide the spirits of benign towards the houses , following an ancient tradition .
On the day of the New Year’s Eve every family gets together for dinner together . Children receive the gift Hongbao ( red envelopes containing money) and you begin to blow up the first fireworks. On Christmas Eve , every family consumes a sumptuous banquet , which never fails fish. Traditional in many parts of China are also rolls and dumplings ( Jiaozi ) of various types. The first day of the new year is devoted to the reception and welcome the benign deities of Heaven and Earth, but also to visit relatives and close friends, and especially parents and grandparents . Typical of this day is the allegorical parade called ” lion dance ” , with the huge dummy carried around the city streets . During the evening are traditional shows with fireworks and explosives noisy . On this day, in many parts of China , we abstain from eating meat, especially among the Buddhists , many traditions also consider it a bad omen to light fires and therefore the consumed food is often cooked in earlier days. On the fifteenth day after the Chinese New Year , we conclude the festivities. The main celebration is the Lantern Festival , during which families come out to the streets holding lighted lanterns and colorful , while outside the houses light up candles to guide the spirits to bring good luck to homes . A tradition that seems to date back to 180 BC and that falls on the first full moon day of the year. It is a truly unique event : every corner of China is filled with lanterns of a thousand shapes and sizes, a festival of lights, colors and creativity that ends with the ritual of the dragon on fire, during which it set fire to the huge lanterns in the form of a dragon to symbolize the return of the creature ( representative of fertility and order) in the sky.