The first day of the Chinese New Year (or Spring Festival) was Monday, February 8.
Chinese New Year celebrates the new year according to the lunisolar calendar. Celebrations will run from the evening before the first day to the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first calendar month.
In China, they take off from work for most of those two weeks. They hang red signs (or couplets) on their doors and windows, have big feasts and give red envelopes filled with money to their loved ones among other things.
We celebrated by having Chinese noodle bowl for dinner (noodles symbolize longevity) with steamed buns (which were a favorite of Faith's when she was in the orphanage), we had mandarin oranges (which symbolize wealth) and fortune cookies. We all wore red, too!
Some friends from church bought Faith this beautiful new dress as a Chinese New Year present. How sweet is that?!?
We also decorated with red, a big hanging dragon and these lanterns, which we will light on Monday, February 22nd for the Lantern Festival.
We celebrate Chinese New Year to show Faith how important her past, her birth culture, and her birth country is to us. And so, by celebrating Chinese New Year, we celebrate Faith and the gift she is to us! How neat to be able to have another reason to celebrate!
Happy Year of the Monkey!!
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