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Here is a daily guide to tell you how Chinese people celebrate Chinese New Year in 2021.

Pre-Chinese New Year Preparations (Jan. 20–Feb. 10, 2021)
Jan. 20, 2021: Laba Festival
Some Chinese start to celebrate and prepare for New Year as early as day 8 of the 12th month of the lunar calendar. This is a festival called Laba ( 腊八 Làbā /laa-baa/ ’12th lunar month’ + ‘8’). In 2021, it corresponds to January 20.

Feb. 4, 2021: House-Cleaning

Beginning on the 23rd day of the 12th lunar month Chinese people carry out a thorough ‘winter-cleaning’ of their houses.

This is called “sweeping away the dust”, and represents a wish to put away old things, bid farewell to the old year, and welcome in the New Year.

Feb. 4–10, 2021: New Year Shopping
Before Chinese New Year’s Eve, people buy New Year’s food and snacks, New Year’s decorations, and New Year’s clothes. Chinese New Year in China, like Christmas, is a boom time for shopping.

Chinese New Year market
Chinese people may be thrifty most of the time, but they seem to spend generously during their traditional festivals.

For example, they buy everyone new clothes for the festival, whether they need them or not. On the days leading up to the festival, there are many New Year’s street markets.

Chinese New Year’s Eve (Feb. 11, 2021): 7 Activities and Celebrations
1. Putting Up New Year Decorations

Putting up spring couplets
Although some people decorate their houses several days before the festival, most people do it on New Year’s Eve. Houses are decorated with red lanterns, red couplets, paper Cutouts, and New Year’s paintings.

Putting up those decorations are thought to keep evil away and pray for blessing, longevity, health, and peace. 2021 is the Year of the Ox, so ox images will appear on decorations.

Read more about the Top 7 Chinese New Year Decorations.

2. Offering Sacrifices to Ancestors
Offering sacrifices to ancestors shows respect and piety. In addition, ancestral spirits are believed to protect their descendants and help them become prosperous.

Many worships on New Year’s Eve, before the reunion dinner, to show that they are letting their ancestors “eat” first. Offerings of meat, wine, joss sticks, and joss paper are placed in front of the shrine/grave.

3. Enjoying a Reunion Dinner

The New Year’s Eve Feast is a “must-do” dinner with all family members reuniting. Chinese try very hard to make this family event, often traveling long distances. This is the main reason for the huge travel stress throughout China.

Big families including several generations sit at round tables and enjoy the food and time together.

Dishes with lucky meanings must be included in the dinner such as fish, dumplings, niangao (sticky rice cake), and spring rolls. Many New Year foods are symbolic.

4. Watching CCTV’s New Year Gala
It’s become customary for many families to watch the CCTV New Year Gala while having their dinner. The Gala starts at 8 pm and ends when the Chinese New Year arrives at midnight.

It features traditional, folk, and pop performances from China’s best singers, dancers, and acrobats.

5. Giving Red Envelopes (Lucky Money) to Kids

Parents usually give their children red envelopes after the reunion dinner, wishing them health, growth, and good studies in the coming year.

Money in red envelopes is believed to bring good luck, as red is China’s lucky color, so it’s called lucky money.

6. Staying Up Late
This custom is called shousui (守岁/show-sway/‘to keep watch over the year’). In the past, Chinese people used to stay up all night, but now most stay up only until the midnight firecrackers and fireworks die down.

7. Listening to a New Year Bell
A bell is a traditional symbol of Chinese New Year, and Chinese people believe that ringing a large bell can drive away bad luck and bring good fortune.

At midnight on New Year’s Eve some people like to go to large squares or temples where huge bells are rung. In recent years people have begun to go to mountain temples to wait for the first ringing of a bell in the New Year.

Chinese New Year’s Day (Feb. 12, 2021)
Chinese people believe that what they do on the first day of the lunar year will affect their luck during that year.

1. Setting Off Firecrackers and Fireworks

The moment New Year arrives there is a cacophony of fireworks and firecrackers all around, even in rural China. Families stay up for this joyful moment.

In many rural areas, it’s customary to set off firecrackers before dinner, each day from New Year’s Eve to day 3 of CNY. See Why Chinese New Year Must Have Firecrackers.

It’s believed that the louder the firecrackers, the better and luckier it will be for business and farming in the coming year.

Kids, with (mini) firecrackers in one hand and a lighter in another, cheerfully celebrate by throwing the small explosives one-by-one on the street whilst plugging their ears.

2. Putting on New Clothes and Extending New Year Greetings

On the first day of New Year, Chinese people put on new clothes, and say “gongxi” (恭喜/gong-sshee/literally ‘respectful joy’, meaning ‘greetings’ or ‘best wishes’), wishing each other good luck and happiness in the New Year.

It is customary for the younger generation to visit their elders, and wish them health and longevity. See Top 10 Popular Chinese New Year Greetings and Sayings.

In recent years, a new way to do New Year greetings has appeared, especially among the young. People who are too busy to visit their friends or relatives send a New Year’s card, a WeChat red envelope, or a text message instead.

3. Watching Lion and Dragon Dances

Chinese New Year dragon dances
Lion dances and dragon dances are also seen on New Year’s Day. Once very popular in China, they are reappearing in many places. They are more popular in Hong Kong and Macau.

4. Public Celebrations at Parks and Temple Fairs
Beijing’s temple fairs are the places to go for traditional activities in Beijing. Such activities are held in parks from the first day of the lunar year to the last (when celebrating the Lantern Festival).

Generally, parks and temples are the best places to go for festive celebrations at Chinese New Year.

New Year: Day 2 (Feb. 13, 2021)
Traditionally married daughters visit their parents’ home on the second day of Chinese New Year. They bring gifts and red envelopes to families and relatives.

On this day, people offer sacrifices to the God of Wealth, wishing for a luckier and more prosperous year.

New Year: Days 3–7 (Feb. 14–18, 2021)

Chinese people visit relatives and friends from the 3rd day to the 7th day.
From the third to the seventh day of New Year, Chinese people visit relatives and friends.

On the third day, some people go to visit the tombs of their relatives, but others think being outside there on the third day is inauspicious, because evil spirits roam around.

The first house-sweep of the New Year: Chinese people don’t clean their homes during the first two days of New Year, as sweeping then is believed to sweep away the good luck accrued by the litter of firecrackers, red paper, wrappers, and other evidence of celebration on the floor.

New Year: Day 8 (Feb. 19, 2021)
People normally return to work on the eighth day. As eight is the luckiest number in China, most businesses like to reopen on day 8 of the New Year.

New Year: Day 15 (Feb. 26, 2021), the Lantern Festival

Lantern Festival
The fifteenth day of the New Year is the Lantern Festival (元宵节 Yuánxiāo Jié /ywen-sshyaou jyeah/). It is the traditional end of Spring Festival celebrations.

Some people send glowing lanterns into the sky, while others release floating lanterns onto the sea, onto rivers, or adrift in lakes.

Regional Variations in New Year Celebrations in China
Traditions and celebrations vary greatly across China. In the north, Chinese dumplings are the must-eat food on Chinese New Year’s Eve, but south of the Yangtze River most people eat spring rolls or sticky rice cake. For more on this, read How Chinese New Year Is Celebrated in Northern and Southern China.

Chinese New Year Celebrations around the World
Chinese New Year is not only celebrated in China, but also in several other East Asian countries (among non-Chinese Asians it’s known ‘Spring Festival’) as well as Chinatowns in Western countries.

For the numbers of people celebrating around the world see Chinese New Year Facts.

You can experience Chinese New Year celebrations in Los Angeles, San Francisco, New York, London, Paris, etc. You can walk through their Chinatowns and see the restaurants and shopfronts adorned in red and gold, and experience firecrackers, colorful parades, and dragon dances.
for more info, go to https://www.chinahighlights.com/travelguide/festivals/chinese-new-year-celebration.htm#:~:text=Chinese%20New%20Year%20is%20celebrated,some%20are%20quite%20new

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We are one human family, whether in the United States or in China or the rest of the world. As a member of this family, we have the responsibility and obligation to make our due contribution to our common home. Only when people all over the world get along with each other and unite together can we realize the good wish of world peace. Although there are many countries and different nationalities in the world, but we have only one Earth! Therefore, we must establish a community of shared future for mankind to truly treat all life is to treat yourself!

惟愿
The Prayer

男：街道空旷 夜色无常，
Male: The streets are desolate and the night obscures all,
一道道光逆风飞扬，
rays of light pierce through the wind,
天使与魔鬼相望，
Angels and Demons face one another,
前进的路上星光微茫。
Under the dime light the path forward is blurred

女： 生命蒙难 世界同殇，
Female: Life is cut short, and the world mourns,
一张张脸神 情绪高昂，
but their faces show relentless determination
希望和春天明朗，
Hope and spring are bright,
希望和春天明朗。
Hope and spring are bright.

男：天地玄黄 宇宙洪荒，
Male: Grand is the heaven and the earth, vast is the universe
众人报春 指手化霜，
People herald the spring as their fingertips warm away the frost.
唯愿家国无染 岁月绵长。
Praying for long lasting safety for both family and country.

女：天地玄黄 宇宙洪荒，
Female: Grand is the heaven and the earth, vast is the universe
众人报春 指手化霜，
People herald the spring as their fingertips warm away the frost.
唯愿灿烂笑容 如往昔 繁华缇裳。
Praying for brilliant smiles as before like beautiful embroidery

女：春怀暖阳 走出创伤，
Female: Wounds give way to the promised warmth of the spring sun.
黑色眼神 力量铿锵，
Black eyes show power and strength
雨过彩虹 涅槃凤凰，
like a rainbow after the rain,
like a Phoenix rising from the ashes.
唯愿紫气神州 日出东方。
Praying for the sun to continue rising in the East

男：山川异域 风月同天，
Male: The mountains and rivers maybe strangers, but the wind and the moon are the same,
一双双手 救死扶伤，
Many hands save the dying and heal the wounded
落英缤纷流水长，
fallen petals lie in profusion, as water flows,
古往今来多难兴邦。
Since olden times,
challenges make a nation strong.

女：山川异域 风月同天，
Female: The mountains and rivers maybe strangers, but the wind and the moon are the same,
天佑华夏 浩浩泱泱，
God bless this magnificent land,
唯愿紫气神州 日出东方。
Praying the sun continues to rise in the East
山川异域 风月同天，
The mountains and rivers maybe strangers, but the wind and the moon are the same,
一双双手 救死扶伤，
Many hands save the dying and heal the wounded.

男：落英缤纷流水长，
Male: fallen petals lie in profusion, water flows long
古往今来多难兴邦。
Since olden times,
challenges make a nation strong.

合：山川异域 风月同天，
Together: The mountains and rivers maybe strangers, but the wind and the moon are the same,
天佑华夏 浩浩泱泱，
God bless this magnificent land,
唯愿紫气神州 日出东方。
Praying the sun continues to rise in the East
唯愿世界大同， 前路无恙
Praying for the world to unite,
Praying the path forward is safe and sound.

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“Meeting MacGuffin” continues the tale which began in a post-apocalyptic future where a new breed, a group of scientists called the Clothespin Freaks, are reassembling the fragmented remnants of humanity in order to give humanity a second chance to restore balance to the world.

The script for “Meeting MacGuffin” made it into the Quarter Finals (Top 40 Shorts) at the renowned Cinequest Screenwriting Competition in 2015.

“Meeting MacGuffin” was crowd funded via Hatchfund. Here is a link to the trailer for Meeting MacGuffin: https://vimeo.com/170560848

Born in Barcelona, Spain, and raised in Germany, Catya attended the Werkkunstschule, Köln, before coming to New York on a Fulbright Scholarship for postgraduate studies at School of Visual Arts.

In 2003, Plate invented the Clothespin Freak characters, two-headed characters made of clear clothespins, sewn pieces and doll’s body parts, in a series of drawings as “a serio-comic response to our angst-ridden times.” In Plate’s paintings, sculptures, artist’s book and installations, the Clothespin Freaks continue to evolve. In 2009, inspired by filmmakers like Jan Svankmajer and the Bolex Brothers, Catya created Clothespin Freak Productions to bring her “Clothespin Freaks” characters to life through stop-motion animation short films.

Based on Plate’s “Clothespin Tarot” artist book from 2007, “The Reading” was born. In 2012 “The Reading”, was awarded Best Animated Film at the Seattle True Independent Film Festival and received an Outstanding Achievement Award for Experimental Film at the Williamsburg International Film Festival. In 2013, Plate produced “Hanging By A Thread”, the first short in an upcoming trilogy. As of 2016, “Hanging By A Thread” has won 9 awards including a Female Filmmaker Award for Outstanding Achievement at FrackFest, a Platinum Remi Award at the 48th Annual WorldFest Houston and two Awards of Excellence at the prestigious IndieFEST Film and Best Shorts Competition. It has screened in over 22 film festivals in the US and abroad, like the Academy Award-qualifying St. Louis International Film Festival. Catya has recently been added to the prestigious GREAT WOMEN ANIMATORS list and was a juror for animation and expea juror for animation and experimental film at the celebrated Brooklyn Film Festival.

Catya heads to Spain at the end of February to conduct a workshop with students from the Fine Arts School. The resulting animation will be screened at ANIMAC in Lleida, Spain, as part of the upcoming ANIMAC International Film Festival. The title of the workshop is– WATER IS LIFE: IMAGINING A WORLD WHERE WATER IS THE RAREST AND MOST VALUABLE RESOURCE. Following this “Meeting MacGuffin” hits the International film festival circuit. Several film festivals have already asked about hosting the world premiere of “Meeting MacGuffin.”

Plate’s mentor, Heather Dell, Art Historian and Director at Magnan Metz Gallery in New York says, “Catya Plate conveys her delicious and devilish vision with humor, wisdom, and a big helping of incredible technical and creative execution. Her work is incredibly successful, proving that Third Generation Feminist artists have as much to contribute to Contemporary Art as their predecessors. Plate’s unapologetic reclamation of once feminized materials in conjunction with state of the art technology secures her place in this new art historical and film making genre”.

More information on Catya Plate and Meeting MacGuffin at www.catyaplate.com

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NYC FASHION WEEK: FALL 2015 FASHION HOTTEST TRENDS & HOW TO WORK THE LOOKS!
TALENT: NATIONAL FASHION DESIGNER, COUTURE BY ELESIA (#CBE FEARLESS)

With the summer months are coming to a close and Fashion Week fast approaching, we begin to focus on the trends for next season. Whether it’s bold new silhouettes, or experimentation with new materials, we are so excited about the possibilities.  National Fashion Designer, Couture By Elesia (#CBE Fearless) will Bring Fall 2015 New York Fashion Week to your audience with list of top fall trends of 2015 and how to work the look!!

FACEBOOK: FACEBOOK.COM/COUTURE BY ELESIA
TWITTER: @COUTUREBYELESIA
INSTAGRAM: COUTURE_BY_ELESIA

CBE Will Provide Insight on The Following Fall Trends:

DUSTER COATS: A little length adds a lot of elegance.

Car Wash Skirts
Think of it as the more polished sister to last season’s major fringe trend. Team with a sharp blouse or top to create a refined look

Fur Stoles
Lend a touch of ladylike goodness to your outfit with the help of a fur stole. Shrug it over your shoulder to make the piece feel more modern.

Flares
Take a break from the skinny silhouette and pull on some flares instead. Elongate your legs by wearing them with high heels or chic wedges.

OVERSIZE BAGS: THIS SEASON’S must have bag is CBE “CAREY” BAG COLLECTION SERIES:  Its Stylish, Elegant and simply Sexy!!! Best of all, it’s big enough to “CAREY-ALL”

The ’70s Vibe
If you feel like reliving the last days of disco, now is the time to do it. Designers looked to the decade that brought us Saturday Night Fever for inspiration this fall, which means lots of flares, as we mentioned, plus knits and boho silhouettes. Can you dig it?

DON’T  Care If It Rains Raincoat:
When it rain drops fall, Stay stylish and look sexy and simply stunning in a fitted and figure flattering raincoat like CBE Elesia Raincoat.  CBE Elesia raincoat makes you feel and look like you are wearing your sexiest dress in the rain, but never getting it wet!!

Statement Earrings
Minimal effort, maximum impact: The chicest way to accessorize this season.
Brown
In keeping with this season’s love of all things ’70s, it’s only expected that the color of choice is brown. Liven up the potentially drab shade with rich colors like maroon or copper.

Head-to-Toe Black
The slimming shade that goes with everything—why not wear it all over? Mix patterns and textures to shake up the monochromatic look.

Winter Cream
The latest take on winter white is a creamier version of the fashion world’s favorite shade. Intricate embroidery removes the stark feeling of the hue.

Long-Line Blazers
The silhouette of your go-to work staple got an upgrade this fall, looking longer and leaner than years past. Make the piece work when you’re off-duty by pairing it with relaxed chinos.

Hold Tight: Cool Hosiery
Basic black stockings will always be chic, but by the end of the season, they’re so played out! Fresh colors and geometric patterns will give your outfit the jolt it needs.

Winter Florals
When rendered against a regal teal or red background, floral prints work for winter. Team them with traditional cold-weather fabrics like suede or wool to keep them from feeling too spring-y.

Turtlenecks
The utilitarian staple popped up all over Fashion Week, but we love it best layered under a dress. Ease warm-weather pieces into your wardrobe now with this quick styling trick.

Shearling
For those sub-30-degree days, nothing keeps you warmer than a shearling coat. The trend, which we saw in fall 2014, was once again presented in a bevy of cuts: oversize coats, cropped jackets, nubby vests, and more.

ADDITIONAL FALL TRENDS TO BE ON THE LOOK OUT FOR:

•    CULOTTES
•    SHADES OF GREY
•    HIGH WAISTED PANTS AND SKIRTS
•    BOY’S CLUB: MEN INSPIRED FASHIONS
•    PLAID AND SIMPLE
•    MINI SKIRTS
•    BALLET FLATS
•    JUMP SUITS
•    BOYFRIEND JEANS
•    STATEMENT SCARVES
•    LADY LOAFERS
•    Over-The-Knee BOOTS
•    FUR COAT CUFFS

ABOUT COUTURE BY ELESIA (#CBE FEARLESS): Mission Statement: To create a signature style of sharp tailoring, natural confidence and that exudes sexy femininity!!
CBE collection includes women’s ready-to-wear apparel. 2015 CBE launched her awaited premier Spring/Summer and Denim collections. The collections featured her signature “Elesia” Raincoat and the Season’s Must Bag, The “CAREY” Bag Collection series.

CBE is also the Fashion Editor for TRAVELGIRL MAGAZINE

FACEBOOK: FACEBOOK.COM/COUTURE BY ELESIA
TWITTER: @COUTUREBYELESIA
INSTAGRAM: COUTURE_BY_ELESIA

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