Chinese New Year of the Dragon 4710

Up until Friday of last week I hadn't even given the Chinese New Year a thought.

We get so wrapped up in our own little world's that we don't always keep track of what is going on around the world. I mean, it's not necessarily only happening in China.

Many of our big Cities in the UK have districts called China town where all the Chinese population have managed to come together.

You can imagine how vibrant these little parts of Chinese society are.

Know as the Spring Festival, this is the most important Holiday in the Chinese calendar.

This festival starts on the first day of the month in the Chinese calendar and culminates with the Lantern Festival on the 15th.

New Years eve is when families gather for a reunion dinner.

Referred to as the Lunar New Year it varies how it is celebrated in different areas of China and there a number of varying traditions and customs.

One of the traditions at New Year is that all families clean their houses to sweep away any ill fortune.

The idea of doing this is that it makes way for the in coming luck which is to be received.

Houses are decorated using coloured paper on the windows and doors.

On the eve of the New Year families feast on Pigs and Duck and all kinds of food.

The morning after families wish each other health and happiness and the children in the families receive red envelopes containing money.

As with a lot of cultures the emphasis on this festival is to wish peace, goodwill and happiness and to relinquish all grudges.

It is thought that the largest European population of China Town exists in Liverpool in the North West of England.

You can see Liverpool using the Map below.

The Arch pictured is thought to be the largest single span type Arch outside China.

There could be as many as 35.000 Chinese people living in the City, making them the largest non-white group.

Liverpool's links with the sea and shipping brought many Chinese immigrants to the City in the 1850's and a local company employed a large number of Chinese seamen hence the reason why many stayed in the City and settled with their families.

The year of the Dragon comes around every 12 years.

The Yang year of the Dragon 2012 starts on the 23rd January and ends on the 9th February 2013.This will be the Year of the Snake.

It is anticipated that the Yang Year of the Dragon will bring great fortune in the year of 2012.

So why is 2012 translated in the Chinese calendar as 4710?

It is related to the Gregorian calendar and it's corresponding months.

Named so after Pope Gregory in the year 1582.

You may have heard of the whispering game called Chinese whispers.

Thought to have no link to China other than the name, this game is so called because of the nature of the Chinese language being difficult to understand and not being able learn without difficulty.

The game is about sending a message via a group of people.

Each one whispers it to the next person in the group. By the time it get's to the last person in the line,the whisper or message bears no resemblance to the original message.

A lot of fun can be had with this game.

In some countries it maybe called something different in our modern times of Political correctness, in order not to upset the Chinese population with a derogatory comment.

Gong Xi Fa Cai

or

Happy New Year in Chinese