Growing up my parents never really explained to me the real meaning/symbolism behind certain traditions or holidays. Or that I wasn't really eating chicken. (Or that that was a fish eye.) To this day when friends ask me questions about certain things, I have to look up the meaning on Wiki. Here's a little fun fact about the legend behind the Chinese New Year (from a source other than Wiki, just because I liked how it was paraphrased better):
"No one is quite sure exactly when or where the festival originated. Legend has it that once upon a time, there was a monster called Nian that attacked Chinese villages every spring, eating anything that came its way – people, animals, plants and the odd building. One spring, villagers hung red paper on their doors and threw bamboo on a fire when arrived. The monster was so startled by the bright colors and loud crackling noise of the burning bamboo that it turned and fled. Today the word“ nian” is the Chinese word for year.
Since that day, Chinese people hang red paper signs and lanterns outside their homes and enjoy making loud noises on New Year’s Eve. Firecrackers replaced bamboo after gunpowder was invented and the main idea today is the louder and bigger, the better."
Oh, and in honor of my peeps, I've also been subsisting on (frozen) pork and leek dumplings from the Asian food market since Day One. (Luckily for me, there are four days left!) Mmmmmm. Sometimes all you want is a warm bowl of dumplings with soy sauce, rice vinegar, sesame oil, and black pepper!
Happy Chinese New Year!
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