This week there is a special celebration on Friday the
31th of January ¡Chinese New Year!
This festival is also known as the spring festival and is the most important
festival in China. The 31th of January
2014 starts the year 4712, according to the Chinese calendar, which corresponds
with the year of the Horse.
Horse people
are active and energetic. They got plenty of sex-appeal and know how to dress.
Horses love to be in the crowd, maybe that is why they can usually be seen in
such occasions like concerts, theaters, meetings, sporting occasions, and of
course, parties.
The horse is
very quick-witted and is right in there with you before you have had the chance
to finish what you are saying: he's on to the thought in your mind even before
you've expressed it.
In general,
the Horse is gifted. But in truth they are really more cunning than intelligent
- and they know that. That is probably why, most of the horse people lack
confidence.
Chinese
believe that because horses are born to race or travel, all Horse people
invariably leave home young. The Horse despises being pressured to act for the
good of the group or made to feel guilty. No matter how integrated they seem to
be, a Horse's inner self remains powerfully rebellious. Although they have
boundless energy and ambition, Horses have a hard time belonging. The Horse is
hot-blooded, hot-headed and impatient. Horse people are a bit of an egoist,
well, selfish sometimes, that it is rare for them to interest themselves in any
problems except their own. And though this egoist works only for themselves and
for their own success, their work nevertheless benefits everybody.
The Horse is
a worker, adepts at handling money and a good financier. But unfortunately,
they are also famous for suddenly losing interest on something. In their
relationship with the opposite sex, the Horse is weak. They will give up
everything for love.
Being born a Horse, there are many contradictions in
their character. Horses are proud yet sweet-natured, arrogant yet oddly modest
in their approach to love, envious but tolerant, conceited yet humble. They
want to belong, yet they are burdened by their need for independence. They need
love and crave intimacy yet often feel cornered, pressured. But the truth is,
the Horse is an individual, who depends only on their own wits and labour to
get what they want.
It´s a period filled with
a lot of celebrations and parties, which begins at new years day and ends with
the Lantern Festival, the fifteenth day of the first month. The festival is
celebrated with fireworks, special meals and family visits. Everyone celebrates
this spring festival, during the first three days of the festival.
During this festival all families pay a lot of effort
to be together and to share a big meal. During these dates, public transport is
overcrowded.
As in all festivals in China, this festival is also accompanied by the traditional cuisine. The dishes that are prepared for this day symbolize good luck.
To receive the "spring festival", the people clean their homes with old brooms which are thrown away afterwards. They decorate their houses with red cards with verses on it, New Year paintings on the wall and red lanterns. Fireworks and firecrackers are chipped, hoping to ward off bad luck and bring prosperity. The children receive money from their relatives and additionally shut down all tasks before new year which include paying off all their debts.
We celebrate this festival in a slightly more modest way, which does indicate that the party is not special! We are looking forward to welcome you with a typical meal from your home country to share with us. Don´t let us miss it!
