The 4 Rules for Giving Away Money - Chinese Red Pocket

If you know what a red pocket is (利事 "Lai See" in Cantonese and 紅包 "Hong Bao" in Mandarin), you either love it or hate it.

If you are on the receiving end you probably love it but if you are on the giving end you probably hate it. If you are giving, the only perk is you don't have to rack your brain for a nice gift. A red pocket is pretty straightforward: Money inside a RED envelope.

This post is going to look at some of the rules that govern the give and take that is the red envelope:

General Rule #1:
Receivers: Children (and not just your own), Unmarried Adult Friend and Families
Givers: Married Couples (gives two) and Widows (gives one)

General Rule #2:
Receivers: Guests of Honor at Special Occasions (Weddings, Birthdays, Going Away, Travel)
Givers: Attendees of these Special Occasions

General Rule #3:
Receivers: The Worker
Givers: The Boss

General Rule #4: 
Receivers: People who provide you with service (Doorman, Maid, Lion Dancers, etc)
Givers: You

So now you are armed with the general rules of engagement, so do what you need to do to navigate this fun yet sometimes painful Chinese tradition!

Learn Chinese (I always see this on fortune cookies):

恭喜發財,利是逗來 (Gong Hay Faat Choy, Lai See Dou Loi)

Translation: Be Prosperous and Happy ...now give me my money! (that's what those Chinese characters say)

Why Doesn't the US Observe Chinese New Year?

Question: It is 2011, why doesn't the United States and other developed countries observe Chinese New Year (The biggest holiday by far in China) as an official holiday despite observing other ethnic related holidays?

Answer: Because Chinese people don't vote and we don't stand up enough for ourselves.

You want to change the rules, you need to play the game.

(Think of all of the children who have to painfully contemplate whether to sacrifice their "perfect attendance" award for a day off with their family)

Petition your Councilman, Congressman, Whateverman today!!

What Chinese Words Can Teach Us about Culture - Upside Down Signs and Dumplings

The Chinese love play on words and especially for the Chinese New Year Holiday. Many Chinese traditions can be explained using word play and since we're celebrating Chinese New Year with the last couple of posts, let's look at the following examples:

1) Upside-Down Signs: I have always wondered why the signs on the doors/windows of houses and stores were upside down. Did someone drink too much the night before when they were putting up the signs? After some quick research, it appears that a play on words is the reason for all this madness.

The most common sign you'll see upside down is the one containing the character "福" which means fortune in Chinese ("fu" in Mandarin and "fook" in Cantonese - that's why you see fu and fook in many restaurants in US Chinatowns). Anyways, the reason to hang this sign upside down is because the Chinese word for upside down ("dao" in Mandarin and "dou" in Cantonese) sounds like the Chinese word for arrive so when you hang the 福 sign upside down it signifies that "Fortune has Arrived". For the same reason, sometimes you'll see the Chinese character for the season Spring "春" ("chun" in Mandarin and "choon" in Cantonese) upside down.

Looks like a Chinese ingot to me

2) Dumplings "饺子":
It is a well known tradition that Chinese people make and eat dumplings for Chinese New Year. As with long standing traditions, the reason behind the tradition is probably forgotten. There are a few reasons besides the obvious camaraderie and fun of a family getting together to make and to eat dumplings.

The first is that dumplings look like Chinese gold ingots which symbolize wealth. The second reason which is a word play is that "饺子" ("jiao zi" in Mandarin) sounds like "sleep and have sons" which is a traditional blessing despite the sexist connotations. I think the word play only exists in Mandarin which may explain why some of the southern parts of China where Cantonese is more prevalent might not have the same tradition. Also, dumplings are very popular in Northern China.

Chinese Ingot

So there you have it. Two of Chinese New Year's mysteries explained! Stay tuned for other posts providing clarity for things you've always seen or done but couldn't figure out why.

Feel free to leave your comments or to suggest alternate explanations!       　

Secrets of Lion Dancing - An Insider Look

Every year during this time, if you live near a Chinatown or in Hong Kong, you'll hear the familiar sounds found in this video.

I present: Lion Dancing (舞狮 - wushi). Although it seems like fun and games, the first hand account from a veteran of such lion dance shows was quite different. From the gang land roots to the modern day evolution, this is a side that most people never get to see nor hear about it.

Here it is, raw and unedited (source anonymous):

"i remember for years my parents didn't want me to go out to ctown during the chinese new year parade... one year i found out why...
when my uncle took me to watch all the lion dancing and the fireworks i thought this was great... everyone coming out to celebrate... it was exciting, until... two groups crossed paths, it's customary to keep the heads low when meeting another group, when you raise the heads it means you want to fight... well apparently someone didn't tell the dude underneath the yellow lion, cause the dude under the black lion went over and gave him a kick in the chest... next thing you konw all hell breaks lose... massive fight.... both groups go at it using everyting from the flags, cymbals and drum sticks as weapons... the drumer even kicked over the drum to reveal a bin of knives and machetes underneath...

this was back in the day where gangs ruled ctown... where you couldn't walk down certain streets otherwise you would get beat up or robbed... if you were from a different gang or group you know better than to cross into the next territory, and they knew also... it was an unspoken underground etiquette. when gangs ruled ctown, they had a designated area, which they went to stores asking for money... each group would stay in their area and you knew better than to go into an opposing group's turf... things are different now... cops aren't as tolerate... now each group needs to petition for a permit in order to go out on chinese new year, you then get a police escort and a desginated route... and under no circumstances should you be deviating from this mapped route. so many rules you need to follow. but groups are more friendlier, greetings and smiles are exchanged rather than dirty looks and stare downs...

but there is still an animosity towards groups outside of ctown who come just to advertise and try to take money out of the community. groups from outside of the ctown like queens and staten island come out trying to attract new members or collect extra money... these groups aren't frowned upon, but nothing really happens... if an opposing group was rude or holding a threaten posture you would jsut cry to the 5-O and they would lose their permit for the following year, cuase they were black listed from receiving a permit next year...

nowadays... most of the trouble is caused by the younger generation who are over cocky and protective over their groups name and reputation. like asian fraternities they go harass and beat up other group's members or trash their house. but it's nothing like back in the days"

So if you don't know, now you know.

If you want to learn more about the history and traditions of Lion Dancing, check out Wikipedia's entry and also visit www.theLionArts.com

Feel free to leave comments about your own experiences with lion dancing!

The Chinese Guide to RED

During the Chinese New Year or any other auspicious Chinese holiday, you'll notice one dominant color: RED

To the non-Chinese, the color RED reminds people of blood, stop signs, communism, fast cars, valentine's day (love), little riding hood, lipstick, etc but one thing that most Americans can agree on is that RED is not considered a very lucky color.

On the contrary, the Chinese love RED. When others think about China or the Chinese, RED is usually the color that pops into their minds. Here are the reasons why the Chinese are so crazy about RED:

• RED is vibrant and has historically stood for dignity, loyalty and honor (RED China)

• It is the color for auspiciousness, courage, health, vitality (fire), happiness, harmony, fertility, fortune, peace and prosperity.

• RED is especially prevalent during Chinese New Year (Spring Festival) and Chinese Weddings

• In the US, declining stock prices are reflected with RED color but in China, rising stock prices are RED. (If you don't believe me, check out the picture below)

Picture List of Things Chinese and RED:

RED Chinese Lanterns - (pic reminds me of the Karate Kid zip-lining down one of these things)

Auspicious RED Chinese Knot 

RED dresses have come a long way

Flag of RED China

RED Chinese Firecrackers

RED Hawthorne Candy ("bing tang") 

RED Pocket - Lucky Money

Traditional Chinese RED Paper Cuttings

Chinese Stock Market Prices - RED is good, Green is BAD

Even the doors are RED

Now we are starting to go too far...

We have officially gone too far!

Please leave some comments and let me know if I have missed anything else RED and Chinese.

When is Chinese New Year and Why is the Date Different Every Year?

I remember seeing these and never
understanding why the numbers
never matched the calendar I used.

When I was younger, I always wondered why Chinese New Year was on a different day every year. It just didn't make any sense to me. The same applies not only for other Chinese holidays but also for my parent's birthday. It made it so difficult to keep track of any dates relating to anything Chinese.

The culprit is actually the existence of different calendars. In the US, we use the Gregorian (solar) Calendar with its 12 months and 365 days a year (366 every leap year). In China, a "lunisolar" (yes, lunisolar, not lunar) calendar is used for marking traditional holidays. The lunisolar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon and usually the middle of the month is the full moon. A lunisolar calendar incorporates aspects of both the solar and lunar (used in Islamic countries) calendars.

Since this is a blog about all things Chinese, I am not going to go into the details of the different calendars. Basically all you need to know is that is is commonly referred to as 夏曆 ("xia li" in Mandarin and "ha lik" in Cantonese) and all you need to do is use a Chinese Lunar Calendar when figuring out the days for Chinese holidays. Most Chinese Calendars also comes with astrological information about whether the day is auspicious, lucky, etc. 

Here is the calendar converter from the Hong Kong Government

Finally, no more missed Birthday gifts and wishes for my parents.