Chinese New Year is just around the corner and we have done very little to prepare for it. We do the minimum required of us–hang one new red and gold new year decoration, getting new bills for the hung bao tips (red envelope) given to children and employees, and thinking about what food to stockpile when restaurants are closed next week.

Growing up in the U.S., I never even knew when Chinese New Year was let alone celebrated it. It wasn’t until I married Marv and started living in Asia did I become educated in what was required. Even so, Marv’s family does not do half of what many of our friends do when new year rolls around.

Marv and I do not:

  • Thoroughly clean the house to sweep away the ill fortune and make way for good luck.
  • Re-paint our doors and window-panes in red.
  • Place food in front of altars to worship ancestors.
  • Bid farewell to the Kitchen God.
  • Display plum blossoms, tangerines, oranges, or pomelos.
  • Have a reunion dinner on new year’s eve.
  • Keep lights on all night long on new year’s eve.
  • Light firecrackers or fireworks.
  • Get new pajamas.
  • Wear new red clothes on new year day.

I’m probably not even aware of a million other new year tasks.

Ignoring all of these customs certainly makes life less stressful for us. While everyone’s in a frenzy, we continue with our everyday business dabbling only in those new year traditions that are easy to enjoy, such as pineapple tarts and other delicacies. And Chinese New Year isn’t the only time I ignore traditional ways of doing things. I also do not dye red eggs and prepare noodles for birthdays. Nor do we exchange presents on Christmas Day although that will change when Stephen gets a clue.

Are we missing out by not upholding custom? (I am not very superstitious, so the fear of bad tidings does not persuade me.) Would the world be a duller place without traditions?

ETA: At my mother’s advice, I’ve flipped upside down the Chinese character “fu” meaning fortune in the center of the decoration shown in the picture above. Phonetically “fu upside-down” in Chinese is “fu dao le” (???) which can also mean that fortune has arrived (???).