The 15 days of Chinese New Year

Well, since the Chinese New Year spirit has haunted me *looking around for any presence* (CHOY!!!) for the past week, I'll be blogging interesting stuff about this auspicious celebration till the 'spirit' left me alone. LOL!!!

Everybody knows that we Chinese celebrated our New Year for 15 days. That means 15 days of eating, drinking, playing, terrorizing, bombing, gambling, partying till you drop, right?

SINFULLY WRONG!!!

For some, yes they did all the sinful sins that a sinful person might have done. (HUH?!?) Anyway, I acknowledged that different dialects celebrated on different days of CNY. Some dialects celebrated Chap Goh Mei (15th day), some dialects 4th day, some dialects some other day. I don't know which is which.

The 15 days of celebration has a significance for each different day...

Day #1:

The gods of heaven and earth are welcomed and meat is avoided to promote longevity and happiness.

(That means no eat-all-you-can is allowed, no?)

Day #2:

Prayers are sent to the gods and ancestors. Dogs receive extra kindness and are well-fed; today is the birthday of all dogs.

(Then who gave birth to the dogs if this day is the birthday of ALL dogs???)

Day #3:

Son-in-laws pay respect to their bride's parents.

Day #4:

Same as Day #3.

Day #5:

Named Po Woo, this day is spent at home to welcome the God of Wealth. It is bad luck to visit anyone on this day.

(Chaishengdao!!!! Dong dong dong chiang!!!)

Day #6-10:

The Chinese are now free to visit their loved ones, and pray for good fortunes in the temple.

(And get a lot of angpows mar...)

Day #7:

The birthday of all the humans celebrated with a drink made by the farmers from seven types of vegetables. Raw fish is eaten to promote success, and noodles for longevity.

(Again, who gave birth to ALL THE HUMANS if this was the birthday of ALL HUMANS long time ago???)

Day #8:

Prayers are sent at midnight from the Fujian people, to the Tian Gong, the God of Heaven.

(I was thinking "use SMS ar?" *slap myself*)

Day #9:

Offerings are made to the jade Emperor.

(Hwang sang wan sui wan sui wan wan sui...)

Day #10-12:

Invites are sent to friends and relatives, to visit for dinner.

(Steamboat, BBQ party!!!)

Day #13:

Simple food are eaten so as to detox after rich food at friends and relatives.

(This is always forgotten as people tend to consume more towards the end of new year)

Day #14:

Time is taken for preparation for the Lantern Festival celebration on the 15th night.

(Girls, buy boxes of mandarin orange to be unloaded into the nearest river...give one box to me, I rather eat them!)

Day#15:

Jai, a vegetarian dish is enjoyed by the family.

Well, I really have no idea about all this! As I've said earlier, different dialects celebrate it differently. Foochow, Hokkien, Teochew, Hing Hua, Hakka, Cantonese, Tiong Hua, Sing Ning, Hainan etc celebrate it according to their respective customs. So how your dialect celebrate the 15-day of new year?

***No religious attacks/remarks/comments are allowed here. Don't try to be smart. Note the difference between religion and tradition before you comment. They are not the same!