Oriental New Year Decorations

By John Chan

Find out how the Chinese people decorate their homes and streets with specially crafted Chinese New Year decorations.

The Chinese New Year is a very special day in the lunar calendar of this age old civilization. One can see Chinese families beautifying their homes with many different Chinese New Year decorations prepared especially for the occasion. From the insides of people's homes to the city streets China is glittering in color throughout this season.

The range of gorgeous items seen during the New Year event are from pretty blossoms to plattersof different cuisine. Few New Year decoration items are reserved for the New Year is exclusive. The array of adornments are colorful and looks magnificent.

Plants and flowers are a very important element in New Year decorations in China. As it is the Chinese people are known to have a special love with nature. During this time of the year the houses of the locals are blooming with different flowers and plants that represent growth and prosperity for the coming year.

The most commonly used plants and flowers used for decoration purposes during this time of the year are plum blossoms. This is because they are just beginning to blossom around this time. They are specially arranged together with bamboo and pine springs. This unique combination actually symbolizes the grouping of friends and families at the event.

Reliability and perseverance are amongst the symbolic virtues the plum blossoms are supposed to represent. The bamboo represents compatibility due to its flexible nature and the evergreen pine is the classic symbol of longevity. Other commonly used flowers include the azalea, narcissus, water lily and the peony.

Certain types of fruits have also incorporated themselves as significant New Year decoration symbols and are a must in every home. Oranges and tangerines top the list and are often brought over by visiting friends. The tangerines are taken as a symbol of maintaining a long relationship and happiness.

Candy trays are perhaps the best gifts during the Chinese New Year season and as far as kids are concerned, they wouldn't disagree! These candy trays with a large amount of candies are a specially designed item for the New Year. They are known as trays of togetherness and a large number of exciting varieties of most delicious candies are kept on them.

Another tradition practiced with the candy tray is that whenever an adult takes a candy, he puts a red envelope that contains some sort of a good luck charm in it for the members of the house on the tray. Candied melons are the most popular object on the tray accompanied by coconuts, lychee nut, cumquat and peanuts etc. which have their own meanings.

Many of the New Year decorations are focused around the particular animal symbol of the year. This has been a Chinese tradition for centuries now and still goes on even now. - 33385

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