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Saturday, February 13, 2010

The Eve and the 1st day of Chinese Tiger Year

Dear friends
Chinese New Year's day has already come, I wish you a happy and prosperous year of the Tiger in 2010. Before the first day of Chinese New Year, it was said to be Chinese New Year's Eve, my mother and I visited to Greet Spring flower market, a big and organised one can be found in Victoria Park in Causeway Bay, but we just went to a small one in Morse Park in Wong Tai Sin, lots of new year decoration and plants and cut flowers for new year were sold.
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The traditonal Chinese New Year's eve flower market has become a flower market and a market for all sorts of stuff, such as Windmill, special toys & fortune sign for new year. The market in Morse Park was opened a few days before the New Year's Eve, however my mother and I chose the Eve like most people..It was not crowded in the afternoon time, but entirely different when going after 8:00pm. You should be well prepared for heavy crowds if you choose to there in the evening next year. Why the Cantonese need to buy flowers at the Flower Market? It is partly because an old Chinese saying "flowers blossom riches and honour" as far as I know.

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Doing a traditonal thing on the Eve of Chinese New Year
Visting to Morse Park Flower Market
11 Feb 2010
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The 1st day of Chinese New Year
14 Feb 2010
In traditonal Chinese New Year's days, people visit their own families, relatives and friends to greet each other, eveyone will dress up in new clothes and keep smile in these days. Edible things like biscuits, Ferrero Rocher Chocolate金沙朱古力, fruits will be given to the host as presents and the host has to return a small red packet with money to return the luck. When people meet, they wish each other good luck and married couples have to give "Lai See" (red packet with money) to children and not married adults (not too old though, may be under mid 20). 'Lai See' means luck so when one gives out 'lai see', that means he has plenty of luck to share with others. The 'market price' for 'lai see' is about HK$20 for ordinary friend's kids, more for closer friends, relatives and families. HK$10 for people who you don't know, like, if you meet someone in your friends' home. Honestly, Chinese New Year Holiday is very popular to children in Hong Kong, China and other places with chinese.
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My mother believe that good fortune will come in the forthcoming year when placing edible flowers and foods at home, unlucky words and curses are completely forbidden during New Year's day.
Herebelow are some edible wishes which are prepared by my mother:
年年有餘(即係魚), 大吉大利(即係有桔)
長長壽壽(龜代表長壽), 花開富貴
龍馬精神, 嚟多個長長壽壽咁話喎.
Anyway, I wish you a happy and prosperous year of the Tiger in 2010.
With Best Wishes,
Ngan Chi Keung

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