Simplicity in all things is highly sought after in this hectic world we live in today. Providing yourself with uncluttered and easy to maintain surroundings is a good start but there are many other lifestyle choices that will help you achieve that peaceful feeling that a well balanced life can offer. Interestingly enough, a lot of these decisions consist of doing away with things to achieve that goal. Some suggestions to create a more serene environment include:

Turn off the cell phone: Turning off the cell phone before dinner can do away with that temptation to answer calls or texts all night long. It is wonderful to have the means to reach friends and family whenever you want but if you are not cautious you can be continually bothered by casual messages that could just as easily wait until the next day.

Turn off the television: The television can actually become a source of irritation and just plain background noise that is annoying but condoned out of habit. Many people turn their television set on and do not turn it off until they go to bed even though it is not being watched some of the time. Particularly families with children should consider whether viewing television is preferred over reading books or playing family games together.

Eliminate TV trays: A lot of folks have grown used to eating from TV trays in the family room and have given up the luxury of sitting down to a meal that can be enjoyed at a leisurely pace. This is a shame because it is at the expense of good conversation that so often accompanies a setting such as this. Eating dinner together in a dining room even if the food is ordinary can be quite an appealing activity that encourages family togetherness and sharing.

Close the door to a home office after hours: Whenever you can, set up a workplace in your house in a basement or a separate upstairs room with a door that can be closed when office hours are over. This completes the work day in a physical way and is often a defining point between mentally dividing the work day and personal time in the evening.

Do away with clutter: It does not matter how nicely a home is furnished, if clutter is allowed to take over it will not be a welcoming retreat to come home to. When clutter is present it creates a mental fatigue because a person always feels as though he or she should be doing something to bring order to their surroundings. It is impractical to zero in on peaceful thoughts in a messy environment that breeds chaos.

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Most of the people have no idea as to when Chinese New Year is. For a starting it is necessary to know that Chinese New Year is not on January first. This happens because Chinese follow the lunar calendar and therefore come up with a different date which is in agreement with the lunar calendar. To calculate the Chinese New Year keep your eyes open for the traditional activities that start off in China which has to do with the New Year celebrations.

Prosperity and hope for betterment is the tone that resonates off of every block in China. According to the tradition the Chinese will let the past year slide into the silent limbo of the days gone by and look forward to welcoming the New Year on a positive note.

The Chinese New Year is a symbol of hope and success and it reflects in every part of the society as they let the past year go by. With the traditional custom they usher in the New Year with great interest and leave the past year behind.

Home is where the New Year activities start. People make a meticulous cleaning of their houses and throw away the superfluous objects. They also buy new things for their home including clothes. They also make it a point to square off their debts if they have any.

As New Year brings in the new, the Chinese homes also acquire a new look with fresh paint and all repairing done. It goes for the personal life as well and people get hair cuts to be blessed during the New Year.

The thorough cleaning of the house is followed by a paint job of the doors and windows. They are painted bright red in the belief that the red color is the agent of good fortune and it helps to keep the evil elements away.

Another New Year activity is decorating the entrance of the home with spring couplets. The couplets are made of paper having curls and squares with engravings done on them. The engravings have meanings such as it could be words of blessings of good luck or could be desiring for spring etc.

During the Chinese New Year the traditional signs and traditions are given importance. They all hang paper lantern in their houses as a part of the tradition. The animal of the year must get prominence and as such should be seen throughout the house. Chinese also get beautiful flowers and plants for decoration, blessing and prosperity. Narcissus and quince are a few examples of the flowers they use.

Chinese new year food is a wonderful way to kick off any celebration. If you are interested in other Chinese family new year activities follow the hyperlinks.

Guo Nian Hao signifies Happy New Year in Chinese language. You will receive a lot of this if you are visiting China during the beginning of the year. But if you are visiting China in February you would still get the same greeting and you may be shocked. The reason is that by traditional Chinese custom New Year falls in February beginning as different from what we consider as New Year.

The difference in date concerning New Years is all because Chinese follow lunar calendar. Their New Year depends on the moon cycle rather than the date like 1st of January. The Chinese people celebrate their New Year in a traditional manner where they follow a lot of old customs and it’s a time for joyful celebrations.

Since the start of the lunar year is an important occasion you will observe everybody to be greeting each other irrespective of whether they know the person or not. Go to any market place and you will have the entire staff wishing you Guo Nian Hao. In fact this is the voice of the nation during the festive season.

Traditionally and otherwise the Guo Nian Hao greeting is used to wish everyone for five days after the beginning of lunar year. After five days you are not supposed to wish a New Year greeting according to the tradition. There are other words which are also used to wish New Year along with Guo Nian Hao.

The Chinese New Year is a time for celebration when they pray to god and fills their minds with hope for health and wealth for the coming year for their fellow human beings and themselves. They go about wishing everybody success and congratulating them in their language using words like Gonxi Facai; Hokkien Keong hee huat chye.

Another common greeting that has been part of the traditional set of Chinese New Year greetings is one wishing the other person for an plentiful harvest in the coming year.

There is another form of Chinese New Year greeting which is known as red envelop. According to this the children are given some money in envelop in place of saying any greeting. Red envelop is known to keep evil away from your life in future.

With the coming of modernity the form of New Year greeting is also changing in China. There is no set way of greeting and people wish each other in their own ways. Unlike the ancient times New Year card has become pretty regular form of greeting in today’s China.

The power of Internet has slowly changed the concept of New Year in China and now people send e-card for wishing New Year to one another. As for the government, it wishes the entire population by holding firework display.

The traditional Mandarin Chinese new year greeting has been in use for centuries. If you are looking for info on Chinese new year for kids please click on the hyperlinks.

Yuan Xiao is the Chinese lantern festival that is celebrated during the time of the New Year. Lantern is a significant symbol associated with the Chinese New Year. Yuan word is derived from the year’s first month and word Xiao comes from the word night as related to, by the Chinese people.

Fifteen days after entering the New Year, when the first full moon night is observed, the lantern festival is celebrated that night. It is to celebrate the joyful atmosphere when the first full moon of the New Year is seen shining brightly. Chinese people get together at the festival site and together they hold their lanterns up trying to create a beautifully lit up surrounding.

There are many intricacies involve with Chinese lanterns. These are no ordinary lanterns rather they can be an extremely engaging item once you begin to indulge in the puzzles that are often featured on the lanterns. The eating of glutinous rice balls also goes along with the lantern celebrations which are shared amongst friends and families.

The origins of the lantern tradition

The legend that is most well-known linked with the Lantern New Year event is that, God Taiyi who reigned over the heavens in the ancient era was prayedby the people in this festival. This is one of the many mythologies associated with the traditional New Year lantern festival.

Being the god of heaven it was supposed that he controlled the entire luck of the human world. The power to impose punishment through natural disasters or medical epidemics was attributed to this god. The emperor who first started the tradition of holding a ceremony to please Taiyi was Qinshihuang. There ceremonies were held in order to gain the good pleasure of Taiyi and avoid the risk of natural disasters.

With time the ceremony gained money and was highly sponsored during the Han dynasty. In fact it was during the rule of the emperor Wudi that the event became one of the most important ceremonies in China which would go on for the entire night.

However, the Taoists had something else to add to this legend and they believed that the tradition became popular under their influence. Apparently, the Taoist god Tianguan had the responsibility of good fortune of the Chinese people and had a strong attraction towards Chinese entertainment. In order to please him, they indulged in merry-making and celebrating on the streets and performing.

The origin of the day of lighting lanterns was apparently discovered by King Mingdi, as a different story says. This story states that he was under Buddhist influence and one dream had led to the extraordinary choice of the fifteenth day of the New Year as the day to celebrate the event of lighting lanterns.

The lantern festival is one of the special events held as a part of the Chinese New Year celebrations no matter which part of the legend is genuine. These lanterns are interestingly designed with unique Chinese motifs.

Making a Chinese new years lantern can be a creative means of involving childrenin their heritage. For information about other aspects of the celebrations, including Chinese new year fireworks, please follow the links.

The Legendary Dragon Dance:- The dragon dance is a crucial festive tradition in China. Originally this dance was performed to please the God of water and for rain throughout the drought years. Gradually it took a kind of entertainment and formed a vital half of all festive occasions, especially throughout the spring competition and Lantern Carnival.

Dragons are normally contrived out of bamboo, wood, cloth and paper sometimes it’s a huge creation generally even ranging more than one hundred meters. Poles are connected to the belly of the dragon and during the show; performers hold these poles and lift the dragon, beginning the grand dance with the beats of roaring drums. The dragon mask and body used for the dance is coloured green, gold and red. If this dance is performed at nighttime, then it is preceded by carrying bunch of burning torches to loosen up the show.

The Lion Dance:- Chinese contemplate the lion to be a image of power, pride, dignity and bravado, capable of fighting off evil spirits. In Chinese tradition, lion is the ninth son of the dragon and was thought of because the prime guardian; still it is seen in front of royal palaces and big houses.

Besides the dragon dance, the lion dance conjointly includes a long history within the Chinese tradition, it had been formerly used for worship and to wish for rain, the lion dance is typically performed with the dragon dance on auspicious occasions. A smart performance is believed to convey luck and happiness.

The captivating lion dance will be seen at the time of the Chinese New Year or on any ancient festival. The lion dance is performed by Wushu – Kung Fu experts. There are sometimes two performers who bring life to the lion – the one managing the lion’s head leads the dance and depicts the lion’s emotions. The other plays the body and tail. They hide themselves below a cloth fur attached with the head. There is conjointly a 3rd person – a person who allures the lion, and carries a silk flower ball or wears a mask of the laughing Buddha with a banana-leaf fan in one hand. He any magnifies the level of merriment of the Lion Dance by dodging from left to right, jumping all around to form a lively entertainment, driving lion crazy.

The centuries recent traditions of the Chinese continues to be alive and surprisingly gaining popularity by the day. But, it is for us to stay alive the history of those age old traditions, cultures and practices.

Star Collection Entertainment Sdn Bhd, the lion dance is a vigorous form of dance that is usually performed during Chinese festivals such as Chinese New Year. Our team established in year 1990. We are one of the World Class Lion Dance Competition Management Company

If the person starts off by painting all the rooms in a neutral color, this makes for a perfect backdrop for the necessary overall look to come together. For the table, for example, there are some wonderful wooden candle holders that fit in most modern homes. Not only do they look neat and clean, they also give off a very romantic light which sets the mood for the room. Also for the table are the wonderful dinner sets with oriental designs incorporated. Squared plates with bamboo or tree designs on them look great against a black ash dining room table. Even bottle covers are available in silk brocade made to look like a traditional Japanese outfit worn years ago. The coolie hat is the cover for the already opened container. To add some focal points, the range of oriental dolls, resplendent in wonderful silk brocades, make excellent ornaments to stand in different corners of the room.

The garden does not get left out of this kind of renovation work. There are some magnificently decorated bamboo parasols that are available to carry the theme through to the garden. The difference is though is that these parasols have wonderful Japanese style designs.great decorative properties as well as lovely colors. A pair of flying cranes on a brilliant gold background is just one of the designs and would look great on a patio with little other decoration. There are hot air balloon spirals that also add some movement and spots of color for the garden and are loved by those who have bought them. There are also some designs of brass thermometers that can be placed at strategic places in the garden so that frost can be predicted on occasion.

Back in the house try decorating the walls with a lovely set of oriental face masks that will make a great splash of color on a plain wall. These wonderfully painted designs would look lovely down a stairway or grouped together in a dark niche highlighted by a lovely lamp. Perhaps set against a rich red or green background, these masks would surely look unusual and different. For brightening up dull corners, there are some elegant and simply designed lamps. These lamps have a primitive yet colorful flower design painted on the shade and on the base and will add just a touch of elegance to any room.

The idea, when decorating in the oriental style, is to keep everything simple and sleek. There is no need to add too much decoration as this will spoil the entire look that is being sought. Try searching on the internet for some innovative ideas before deciding on what is the best style to choose.

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The people of china are very possessive about their age old customs and they would not let them go. The Chinese as a whole are proud of these activities and try their best to keep them alive by celebrating them at regular interval.

The Chinese New Year is a time when you get to see Chinese traditions in full bloom. A hub of traditional activity explodes onto the scene during the first few weeks of the Chinese New Year. The Chinese have a complete set of beliefs and traditional practices with regards to the welcoming of a new year. One can pretty much see how deeply the age old traditions are embedded in the Chinese culture by looking at all the traditional practices that are brought into light during New Year celebrations.

There is however another reason why China has kept these ancient traditions alive. With the explosion of the mass media the country knows how intrigued the rest of the world is by their mysterious culture. Hence they aim to cash in on their ancient traditions by keeping them alive so that they can attract lots of tourists and hence develop a thriving tourism industry.

The New Year celebrations once they commence carry on for next fifteen days. In fact the celebrations start one two days previous to the New Year. If you are eager to do business in China this is a good time as people love to spend a lot as they are so happy.

The house cleaning ritual is part and parcel of New Year tradition. Chinese homes take a new look and everything becomes shining and clean. All this is meant to drive away the misfortune of the previous year and make the house pure for New Year.

Doors and windows are painted red as per tradition. Red is the color of New Year in China. The traditional belief is that it wards away all sorts of evil spirits and omens and keeps the house protected from any harm.

If you visit China during the New Year you will find a good number of decorations in all houses. There are couplets as well as paper cuttings which are the signs of contentment and wealth and so on. There are different wall papers, paintings and scrolls which people put up to beautify their homes.

The Chinese prefer to celebrate the New Years Eve with their complete family as is the tradition and it is done with a lot of enthusiasm. A special dish is cooked for this occasion known as jiaozi which is actually dumplings in boiled water and it is together with all family members.

Playing games and watching televisions are some activities that the Chinese indulge in on the New Years Eve. They watch special programs all night long on the television to remain awake. They also keep the lights on the whole night as they believe that doing so their parents will receive long and healthy life.

The real day begins with good wishes, presents, lantern parades, Kung fu acts, concerts and other various forms of celebrations that last a whole two weeks and end with the dragon dance with the fireworks on the night of the first full moon putting an end to the show of ancient traditions in modern times.

Chinese traditions can differ in different parts of China . If you are interested in reading further on the Chinese New Years dragon click on the preceding hyperlink.

Today, the Lion Dance has several variations in other Asian cultures like Hong Kong, China, Macau, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore, Japan, Korea, Okinawa, Malaysia, etc. along with Sydney – and the dance varies from region to region, in the shape of distinct designs and movements. For example, in Japanese culture, the Lion Dance is practiced as Shishimai, a observe that meant dancing around symbols of other animals like deer.

The Chinese Lion Dances can be of two main sorts – Northern and Southern. The previous was used as a type of entertainment for the imperial court, and therefore the northern lion is red, orange and yellow, typically the feminine lion is depicted as having inexperienced fur. The lion also includes a shaggy appearance, and has a golden head. The northern Lion Dance itself is extremely acrobatic in nature, and is typically performed for the purpose of entertainment. Dangerous stunts are typically performed by them.

The Southern Lion Dance, on the other hand, is a lot of symbolic in nature. The aim of its performance is usually to exorcise evil spirits, and to bring in fortune and smart luck. The southern lion will have a big variety of colours, and therefore the animal itself has a distinctive head with huge eyes, there’s a mirror on the forehead, and on the center of the head could be a single horn. Don’t ever confuse the Lion Dance with the Chinese Dragon Dance, which is totally different. The latter is completed with a team of 10 or additional people, whereas the Lion Dance usually is created from just 2 dancers. The Lion Dance is closely related to the practice of Kung Fu, and the folks who dance it may be members of the local Kung Fu Club. Some rigorous coaching is required so as to master the Lion Dance.

The northern Lion Dance has the dancers showing in pairs, and during their performance, the lions sometimes resemble Pekingese or Fu Dogs, the movements are realistic and life-like. They perform stunts like balancing on a big ball, or doing lifts. It’s quite common for the northern lions to appear as a family, there are usually two giant adult lions, and a try of tiny young lions. On the opposite hand, the homeland of the southern style of the Lion Dance is Guangdong, and also the southern Cantonese style will be further sub-divided into Hok Shan (Crane Mountain), Fat Shan (Buddha Mountain), Fat Hok (this is often a mix of the previous 2), Jow Ga, and also the Green Lion (that is terribly in style with the Taiwanese).

Star Collection Entertainment Sdn Bhd, that established in during 1990. the lion dance may be a vigorous type of dance that’s sometimes performed during Chinese festivals like Chinese New Year.

In the lunar calendar, the Chinese New Year plays a vital role and you wouldn’t be surprised to see Chinese families decorating their dwellings with various Chinese New Year crafts made for this particular festival. From inside the houses to outsides on the city roads, China shines in color throughout the season.

Few of the New Year decorations seen are pretty flowers to platters of food and some other variety of decorations that arereserved for the festival. There are certain decorative items that have become signs to mark this time of the year. The collection of decorating items is wide and colorful.

Plants and flowers play a significant role in the New Year decorations in China. Besides Chinese people are known for their attachment to the nature. During the New Years event, houses of Chinese people are seen blooming with different flowers and plants that symbolize growth and prosperity that promise to come in the coming year.

For decorating purposes, the most commonly used plants and flowers are the plum blossoms at such times. This is because, they just start to blossom during this season and they are arranged beautifully together with bamboo and pine springs. This represents a special closeness between families and friends around this time.

The two symbolic values the plum blossoms are supposed to represent are reliability and tenacity. The compatibility factor is represented by the bamboo due to its flexible nature and the evergreen nature of pine is a traditional mark of longevity. Other flowers used also are azalea, water lily, narcissus, and peony.

Even particular kinds of fruits play an eminent role in the New Year decoration symbols and every household in China needs to have it. Oranges and tangerines are the first preference in the list and generally brought as presents by visiting friends. To maintain happiness and long relationship tangerines are usually meant to symbolize such emotions.

The best thing of the Chinese New Year is probably the candy tray. At least adolescents would agree to it. Especially designed trays are brought and cadies are placed on them during this time. This sweet treat is also known as the tray of togetherness and it is piled with various delectable candies.

Another tradition practiced with the candy tray is that whenever an adult takes a candy, he places a red envelope that contains some type of a good luck charm in it for the members of the house on the tray. Candied melons are the most popular object on the tray accompanied by coconuts, lychee nut, cumquat and peanuts etc. which have their own meanings.

The New Year decoration items are mostly focused on the particular animal symbol that represents that particular year. This Chinese tradition is prevalent for ages now and is still practiced.

Chinese new year decorations come in a wide array of shapes and sizes. If you want to learn about other Chinese new year activities follow the hyperlinks herein.

The Chinese New Year is an important event in the Chinese lunar calendar. Celebrations have been carried out in the most traditional manner since ages now and the festive spirit is still very much alive at present. The rare feature of the Chinese New Year is that according to the twelve year cycle, the coming of the year is related to an animal symbol significantly.

The Chinese New Year animal follows a twelve year cycle and hence repeats. According to their present status, the next year should be the year of the Ox. The ancient philosophers of China have done a research on the behavior of the animals and have drawn a similarity between their personality characteristics and human nature.

Thereby if any person is born on the year of a certain animal he is supposed to bear resemblance to the nature of the animal of that particular year. Any individual who has taken birth in the year of the ox is bound to have decent organizational skills and they are considerably dependable and loyal. Also such people are patient and strong.

It is believed that the twelve year concept of the animals representing each year is deduced from the Buddhist dharma. According to the history Buddha himself summoned the animals prior to his coming to the Earth. Moreover, a competition was held amongst these animals where the animal that came first would be assigned to the first year.

The race began with heavy contesting between the animals. The cunning rat after making a deal with the cat decided to cheat. All the while it looked like the Ox would win the race as it maneuvered through the crowd. But the ox was unaware of the fact that the clever rat was sitting on his back all through the race and when he came close to the ending line, the rat jumped off his back and became the winner.

The first year of the twelve year cycle as a resultof the race was the year of the rat as he managed to end the race in first position. This year is followed by the year of the ox as the rightly deserving animal came second unfortunately. Then the ox is followed by the rest of the animals on the basis of the position they finished the race in. the Last in the race was the pig!

If you are thinking why just twelve animals came to Buddha and why distinctly these animals then keep wondering because you will get no answers to these questions! The fact of the matter is that this is an ancient tradition which has been kept alive up till today and is deeply embedded in the Chinese culture. As a token of appreciation for their coming Buddha apparently assigned a year to each of the animals and that’s the way the legend has it.

Mandarin Chinese new year songs are a fun activity enjoyed by young and old alike. If you would like more information on Chinese new year animals click on the links herein.