What to do during each day of a Chinese New Year celebration

The Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in China and is celebrated for 15 days in a row. It involves many customs related to food, decorations and welcoming friends and family. If you've never experienced it before, here's what happens each day to help you enjoy the festivities.

Many people begin Chinese New Year celebrations with Kitchen God's Day, by offering sacrifices, prayers and blessings to the god who oversees the moral behaviour of the household.

• The next day is celebrated by thoroughly cleaning the house and sweeping away the dust.
• Sweeping represents putting away old things and saying goodbye to the past.

Three days before the Chinese New Year:

• People make tofu and eat it to show that they live simple, humble lives and aren't extravagant.

Two days before the Chinese New Year:

• It's customary to paste paper cutouts on the windows of your house.
• The cutouts help remind people to look forward to a better life and keep high hopes for the future.

On the day before the Chinese New Year:

• Families traditionally worship their ancestors and show respect for them with an important remembrance celebration.
• Many people also paste door gods on their doors to protect everyone in the home from evil spirits.
• Chinese families also begin planning for a big family feast.

• Lighting firecrackers is one of the most important customs during the first day of the new year.
• Families stay up late to see the firework displays at midnight and give lucky money to their children as gifts.
• The money is enclosed in a red envelope, as red represents good luck and happiness.

On the second day, married daughters visits their parents' houses, greet them and offer warm wishes for the new year.

People visit friends and relatives during these days.

• Some people also visit tombs and burial sites of ancestors or family members.

Day eight signifies the end of the official public holidays

• Most people go back to work on this day.

• The Lantern Festival, which signifies the traditional end of Spring Festival celebrations, is held on the last day.
• People celebrate by sending glowing lanterns into the sky or over the sea.
• Many big cities hold lantern festivals on the 15th day.

If you've never before experienced the 15 days of Chinese New Year celebrations, you've been missing out on a wealth of colourful traditions, delicious foods and much more. But the good news? It's never too late now that you know a little bit more about the time-honoured customs and age-old beliefs that make it such a rich celebration!