Chinese New Year is not all about dressing up in new clothes and receiving red packets, there is more to CNY then just that. As the older generation age and the young ones grow, some traditions are long forgotten and not commonly practised anymore. So we feel there are traditions and customs that are worthy of mentioning. How many of these do you still practise?

~Scarlet Dog Day~

The Scarlet Dog Day is the 3rd day of CNY and according to folklore, it is an unlucky day. Legends says that the Scarlet Dog was the God Of Anger and would roam around during the 3rd day of CNY. Whoever who was to meet him would have been cursed with bad luck. So some will stay at home all day on the 3rd day of CNY. Strange isn’t it?

~Firecracker Ritual~

Every household used to usher in the New Year by being the very first at lighting up their own firecrackers. Many believe that the louder your firecracker was, the more successful you were going to be. Well unfortunately, many places have banned this ritual and which also includes Singapore. Only the older generation of Singapore would have the experience the Firecracker Ritual.

~Honouring the Kitchen God~

On the 23rd day of the 12th month of the Chinese Calendar, people traditionally honour the Kitchen God who reports to the Jade Emperor of Heaven. There are many different stories to this rituals and one we thought was one of the funniest was that some households would offer sticky foods such as mochi so that the Kitchen God would not be able to open his mouth, thus when he would report to the Jade Emperor on how their family was, the Kitchen God would only be able to make sounds of satisfaction.

How many does your family still do? Does your family have any family traditions that they have been following every since day one?