CHINESE NEW YEAR

AROUND THE WORLD

Primary Teaching Resource
Chinese New Year Around the World– Introduction

The Chinese New Year festival has been celebrated for more than four
thousand years. It celebrates the earth coming back to life and the beginning
of the growing cycle, to mark the end of the long winter season and the arrival
of spring. Hence it is also called the Spring Festival. For Chinese people the
Lunar New Year is the celebration of the year, a time for happy reunions,
family and friends, rich in colourful traditions and customs.

Chinese New Year is now an annual observance and celebration globally as a

result of trade links, emigration and the presence of long established Chinese
communities around the world. Substantial Chinese populations beyond China
exceeding one million (including ancestry) from the largest include: Thailand;
Malaysia; U.S.A.; Indonesia; Singapore; Canada; Myanmar; Philippines;
Australia and South Korea. The U.K. has approximately 466,000 people of
Chinese heritage and notable ‘Chinatowns’ in London, Manchester,
Birmingham, Newcastle upon Tyne and Liverpool.

The Chinese New Year Resource Pack is intended to be a starting point, to

shine a light on and to celebrate the enormous contribution of Chinese Britons
have made to our vibrant and diverse society, and is intended to be a working
document to be adapted, added to or changed to suit the individual
requirements of the educational setting.

Moreover, it has been questioned whether it is appropriate to confine the

study of Chinese history and culture to one month of the year. This Chinese
New Year Resource Pack is intended therefore to avoid tokenism and does
not substitute for the inclusion of these elements, themes and
accomplishments, in the curriculum throughout the year, in all spheres
including: history; literature; religion; politics; design and technology;
science; sport; mathematics; music; media; visual and the performing arts.
 Chinese Festivals
The common traditions and celebrations
Chinese festivals are based in the lunar calendar so the exact dates will vary
from year to year.
 The most important festival is Chinese New Year (also known as the
Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival) which falls at the end of January
or beginning of February in our Western calendar and is jam-packed with
feasts, parades, lion dances and fireworks. During this two-week period
millions travel home to be with their families.
All over the world the festivities are a colourful display of dragon dances,
lantern festivals, feasts and firecrackers.

When is Chinese New Year?

In China, New Year's Day is also the first day of the first month of the
Lunar Calendar! Therefore, Chinese New Year dates vary each year and
could fall at the end of January or in February.
The New Year celebrations begin on New Year's Eve, the big party is on
New Year's Day and the celebrations continue for the next 15 days.
It all ends with the first full moon of the year with the Lantern Festival,
another great carnival.
Where is Chinese New Year Celebrated?
Chinese populations exceeding one million around the world (including
ancestry) from the largest are: Thailand; Malaysia; U.S.A.; Indonesia;
Singapore; Canada; Myanmar; Philippines; Australia; South Korea. The
U.K. has approximately 466,000 people of Chinese heritage, including
notable ‘Chinatowns’ in London, Manchester, Birmingham, Newcastle
and Liverpool.
Source: www.//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overseas_Chinese

There are many Chinese traditions associated with the New Year
celebrations, including:
 Preparations for the New Year begin a couple of weeks before the big
day. This is the time to clean the house from top to bottom to get rid of
 all the bad luck, prepare food for the feast and make banners and
decorations.
 Make some banners with New Year’s greetings - Red and gold banners
with New Year messages of good luck decorate the entrances of houses.
Red symbolizes vitality of life and happiness, gold represents wealth and
prosperity.
 The New Year's feast takes many days to prepare and in addition, food
for the next couple of weeks has to be plentiful as there will be lots of
visiting relatives and friends. Food must be prepared ahead of time, as
one of the popular Chinese New Year superstitions dictates that all
knives must be put away.
 Family and friends visit each other. Traditional New Year's gifts are
sweets and snacks, oranges and tangerines, which are a symbol of
prosperity.
 Happy New Year! The entire family enjoys the big dinner on New Year's
Day with all the traditional foods for good fortune and luck. Children get
their Lucky Red Envelopes.
HAPPY NEW YEAR
Happy New Year is Gōng Xǐ Fā Cái in Mandarin or Gong Hey Fat Choy in
Cantonese.
The characters are the same, reading right to left:

Gōng Xǐ - are good wishes or congratulations

Fā Cái - to become rich, acquire wealth
 On New Year's Day, children are given red lucky envelopes with money
inside!
 Visit the link below to try and make some Chinese red envelopes:

https://www.china-family-adventure.com/chinese-new-year-red-
envelope.html

 The New Year's meal

Each family will have their own "special" dishes that are traditionally
served at this time. Some of the traditional Chinese new year foods which you
can expect to see during the festivities:

Shrimps

fish

chicken

soup
 green vegetables

long noodles

sweet rice cakes

oranges

tangerines

 Firecrackers are an important part of the Chinese New Year

celebrations. They are lit in front of houses and stores, so that the evil
spirits are scared away. Firecrackers provide the happy ending to the
parades and dances.
  On New Year's Eve, people will go to the temples and pray for good
fortune for the New Year. They bring offerings of food and incense to
please the spirits of the deceased.
 Dragon dancing
Dragon Dances are an important part of the Chinese New
Year celebrations. The Dragon represents wisdom, power and wealth.
The Dragon Dance performed on New Year's Day scares away the evil
spirits and all the bad luck. It is performed by a team of a dozen or so
dancers that carry the dragon.

The frame of the Dragon itself was traditionally made of wood or

bamboo, covered with material. The Chinese Dragon costume, different
colours can be chosen. Some dragons can be up to 100 meters long. The
longer the Dragon is, the more luck it will bring.

Other most remarkable festivals that all Chinese kids love and
enjoy include:
 Lantern festival when streets, markets, store fronts, homes and parks
will be lit with beautiful lanterns in all sorts of shapes, forms and colours.
The Chinese Lantern Festival is celebrated on the 15th day of the 1st
 lunar month. During this festival there is a variety of cultural
performances including martial arts and kung fu demonstrations, floats
and parades with clowns, stilt walkers, acrobats, lots of music and
drumming, Chinese Lion, Dragon Dances and firecrackers!

Red Lanterns have traditionally been a sign of joy and vitality, when placed
on the doorways, it was a way of participating a birth or impending
marriage.
Chinese Lanterns were traditionally made of silk, paper and even glass.

 Chinese Tomb Sweeping Day

At the beginning of April, is for honouring ancestors and to make sure they
are happy in the after world. As part of the tradition Chinese will burn
incense and pray to their ancestors on this day. People will also clean and
sweep their ancestors’ graves and at the same time bring food, normally
fruits, buns and sweets, wine, etc. Cemeteries will be very crowded on this
day.
 The Chinese dragon boat festival
This takes place on the fifth day of the fifth lunar month, or around June
in our Calendar.
During the festival people take part in dragon boat races. Chinese
Dragon Boats are long, narrow boats with a dragon's head at one end
and a tail at the rear.

 The Chinese Ghost Festival falls in the seventh lunar month (which
typically falls around August in our calendar). In this month the spirits of
the deceased are released and they come back to wander off in the
living world. To keep the spirits happy, people will make offerings of
food and incense and burn ghost money as well as will perform rituals
and ceremonies to appease the spirits.
  The Moon Festival or Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on the 8th full
moon of the year. On this night, the moon is at its brightest. This is one
of the two most important holidays in the Chinese calendar. Friends and
family gather together to enjoy the moonlight, the beautiful lantern
displays that illuminate the city.

Lantern Making
1. Easy to make at home or for school projects; great decorations for
entrances, halls, classrooms, the garden, a Chinese New Year party.
Written instructions with photos:
https://www.china-family-adventure.com/how-to-make-chinese-
lanterns.html
Other Chinese New Year crafts:
Paper lantern,
Balloon lantern,
Paper fan,
Banners and signs,
Chinese firecrackers,
Red envelopes,
Chinese dragon.
All Instructions are written in steps, with photos to help and can be found
here:
https://www.china-family-adventure.com/chinese-new-year-crafts.html

The Chinese Bad / Lucky Numbers

Chinese consider number 4 a "bad luck" number as the pronunciation "suh"
sounds similar to the Chinese character for "death".
The number 8 "bâ" sounds similar to the word for "wealth" and is considered
to be a very lucky number.

12 Zodiac animal signs

2021 is the Year of the Ox according to Chinese zodiac.
2022 is the Year of the Tiger.
This is a Year of Water Tiger, starting from the 2022 Chinese New Year on Feb.
1 and lasting to 2023 Lunar New Year’s Eve on Jan. 21.
The 12 Chinese zodiac animals in a cycle are not only used to represent years in
China, but also believed to influence people’s personalities, career,
compatibility, marriage, and fortune.
 The most widespread Chinese zodiac legend
The Jade Emperor (The Emperor in Heaven in Chinese folklore) ordered that
animals would be designated as calendar signs and the twelve that arrived first
would be selected. On that day, the rat got up very early and rushed to the
gathering site. On the way, he encountered the ox that ran much faster.

In order not to fall behind, he thought up a good idea. He made the

straightforward ox carry him on condition that he sang for the ox. At last, the
ox and rat arrived first. The ox was happy thinking that he would be the first
sign of the years, but the rat had already slid in front, and became the first
lucky animal of the Chinese zodiac. That's how the rat won the race.

Following Rat and Ox, are Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey,
Rooster, Dog, Pig.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrKQmI4vSwA

How to Say Happy New Year in Chinese

 新 年 好

xīn nián hǎo

 过 年 好

guò nián hǎo

 新 年 快 乐

xīn nián kuài lè

Chinese New Year Greetings – Lucky Words and Sayings

Listen and learn how to say “Happy New Year” in Chinese:
https://www.travelchinaguide.com/essential/holidays/new-
year/greetings.htm

Learn to speak Chinese! – Different topics with useful expressions such as:
Chinese numbers, greetings, congratulations, weather, asking the time, in a
taxi etc.

Useful Links:
https://community.travelchinaguide.com/learn-chinese/
Chinese dragon dance https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi95ZTEHoL8
Chinese lion dance ( 12 mins)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OTgD8Mhgrek
Chinese fan dance (3mins) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOJtuO1T2Gs
Chinese ribbon dance (5mins)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vYz9PuO1eCk
Chinese Calligraphy
Learn Chinese calligraphy for “metal, wood, water, fire and earth” (3mins.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cq_-GW2gkz4
Chinese calligraphy is the writing of Chinese characters as an art form. Chinese
calligraphy used to be popular in China, Taiwan, Japan and Hong Kong. In
Taiwan, students were requested to write Chinese calligraphy starting from
primary school all the way to junior high school on weekly basis at least to year
1980.
A brush is the traditional writing instrument for Chinese calligraphy. The body
of the brush is commonly made from bamboo or other materials such as wood,
porcelain, or horn. The head of the brush is typically made from animal hair,
such as weasel, rabbit, deer, goat, pig, tiger, wolf, etc.
The implements were the brush, made of animal hair, and black ink made from
pine soot and animal glue. Writing as well as painting was done on silk. But
after the invention of paper in the 1st century, silk was gradually replaced by
the new and cheaper material.
Rules of Modern Calligraphy
 The characters must be written correctly
 The characters must be legible
 The characters must be concise
 The characters must fit their context
 The characters must be aesthetically pleasing
Painting
Traditional Chinese painting involves essentially the same techniques as
Chinese calligraphy and is done with a brush dipped in black or coloured ink;
oils are not used. As with calligraphy, the most popular materials on which
paintings are made of paper and silk.

https://www.christies.com/features/Chinese-Traditional-Painting-Collecting-
Guide-7607-1.aspx

There are two main techniques in Chinese painting:

 Gongbi (工笔 /gong-bee/), literally 'working pen', is a meticulous style,
rich in colour and detailed brush strokes (often used for portraits or
narrative subjects).
  Xieyi (写意 /sshyeah-ee/ 'writing'), meaning “freehand", is a looser style
of painting, and usually used in landscapes. Often features exaggerated
forms and expresses the artist’s feelings.

Great Chinese Inventions – Paper Making

Paper is a thin non-woven material traditionally made from a
combination of milled plant and textile fibres.
 Commonly white, it was
primarily used for writing and
artwork. The first paper making
process was documented in
China during the early Han
period (25-220 CE). During the
8th Century paper making spread to the Islamic world and to Europe
in the 11th Century A.D.
Useful links:
https://www.education.theiet.org/primary/teaching-
resources/making-paper/
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/primary-science-
how-paper_is_made/zryb92p

Great Chinese Inventions – Printing

Printing was invented in China during the Tang Dynasty (618-906
A.D.). The earliest forms of Chinese
printing relied on blocks cut from
wood. These blocks were used to print
textiles and reproduce Buddhist texts.
Short religious texts printed in this
form were originally carried as charms.
Useful links:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/class-clips-video/art-and-design-
printmaking-different-materials/zhytscw
https://www.twinlk.co.uk – links to practical block printing
techniques in all Key Stages.

Great Chinese Inventions – The Compass

The compass was invented in China during the Han Dynasty, between the 2nd
Century B.C. and the 1st Century A.D. where it was called the ‘South governor’
or the ‘North pointing fish’. The magnetic compass was first used for fortune
telling by the Chinese and to harmonise buildings using the geomantic
principles of Feng Shui.
Early compasses were made
with lodestone, a form of
naturally occurring magnetite,
which aligns itself with the
Earth’s magnetic field. People
in ancient China discovered
that if lodestone was
suspended it would turn freely
and always point to the magnetic poles. Compasses were later adapted for
navigation during the Song Dynasty in the 11th Century A.D.
https://www.steampoweredfamily.com/activities/how-to-make-a-compass
https://www.science-sparks.com/make-a-compass-with-a-magnet
https://bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zrvbkqt/articles/zfb6pbk
(How to make a magnetic compass – KS3)

Great Chinese Inventions – Gunpowder

Gunpowder was originally invented in the 9th Century by Chinese alchemists in
search of the elixir of immortality. Originally
gunpowder was used to make fireworks for
festivals and major events.
It was later used as an explosive substance in
cannons, fire arrows and other military
weapons. By the end of the 12th Century
Chinese formulas for gunpowder were capable
of bursting through cast iron, in the form of
grenade bombs.
N.B. Searches for related activities prohibited by T&W search engines.

Crafts and Practical Activities: EYFS /KS1/KS2

Chinese New year paper plate puppet craft
Use scissors, glue and craft sticks to make a Chinese puppet show for children
to play with.

Chinese New Year paper lanterns

Chinese New Year (Chinese Characters) Colouring and Word Trace
To colour and trace the words for Happy New Year in Chinese characters.

Chinese New Year Colouring and Word Tracing

-for colouring and practising fine motor skills. Add paint or glitter for extra
sparkle!

Chinese restaurant role-play area

- for children to play in, turn take, role-play, practise speaking and listening
Chinese Zodiac Word Mat
-helps children to spell the words they need

Chinese New Year Tuff Tray Rainbow Rice

- Rainbow rice is a great recipe for messy and sensory play. Can be used to
encourage children to trace the Chinese numbers with their fingers or a brush.
 What you need to make rainbow rice
Uncooked rice
Food colouring
Vinegar
How to make rainbow rice
Separate your rice into portions for each colour that you want to use
Add 1 portion to a tupperware box
Add 1 tablespoon of normal household vinegar
Also add a few drops of food colouring
Seal the tupperware and shake to mix all the ingredients until you can
see that the colour has covered all of the rice
Lay out your rice on greaseproof paper until dry
Do this for each colour
Voila, you have rainbow rice that can be used again and again
Chinese Numbers Playdough Mats

Chinese New Year Maths Race Game

Use a dice, to move your zodiac animals round the track.

Chinese New Year Zodiac Hats

- great for speaking and listening and oral story telling

Tiger Handprint Craft

Rocking paper plate tiger craft instructions :
https://www.redtedart.com/paper-plate-tiger-craft/
Chinese New Year recipes

https://chopstix.com/chinese-recipes/spring-rolls/
 CHINESE NEW YEAR - WEBSITES AND RESOURCES
 https://www.google.com – search Chinese New Year Images.
 https://www.youtube.com – search Chinese New Year film clips and
videos for children.
 https://www.twinkl.co.uk/resources/festivals-and-cultural-
celebrations/chinese-new-year - practical activities and work sheets
aimed at different year groups (some free) including power-points.
 https://www.twinkl.co.uk/factfile/chinese-new-year-topic-teaching-facts
- free fact file covering many aspects of Chinese New Year.
 https://www.bbc.co.uk/teach/school-radio/assemblies-ks1-ks2-chinese-
new-year-festivals-lunar-festival-lunar-festival/zp993j6 - comprehensive
teaching resource including: introduction; pdf resources; assemblies;
audio links; images; videos and related questions to explore.
 https://www.tes.com/teaching-resources/blog/bringing-chinese-new-
year - primary and secondary resources produced by teachers (many
free or small cost).
 https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/chinese-new-year-story-
3009610 - free Chinese New Year power-point.
 https://www.tes.com/chinese-new-year-2021-1181191 - Chinese New
Year stories and colourful images with audio (KS1).
 https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zjkc92p/articles/zphcydm -
information and film-clips.
 https://www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/watch/chinese-new-year - ‘Lets
Celebrate’ film clips (aimed at EYFS/KS1)
 https://www.britishcouncil.org/voices-magazine/eight-ways-to-
celebrate-chinese-new-year-your-school - practical suggestions for
primary school teachers.
 https://www.teachingideas.co.uk/global-geography/chinese-new-year-
resources - practical suggestions and film clips aimed at primary school
teachers.
 https://www.theschoolrun.com/homework-help/the-chinese-new-year -
aimed at parents or useful resource for home study or research
including key information; gallery images, questions and answers