Congratulations, And Be Prosperous

Happy Year of the Ox! Yesterday was New Year's Day. Here's how we've prepared for our first New Year in China.

First, a decoration for our front door (above), a red square gilded with the character for good fortune. I had heard that you should hang it upside-down because in Chinese, "reversed" sounds like "arrival," so an upside-down sign means "good fortune arrives." I tried it that way, but the arrangement really disturbed my personal feng shui so I put it upright again.

We also hung a couple of mobiles, both of which sport the character for good fortune:

Andy strung up these red lantern lights (bought from this light shop).

Then there was the issue of the lai see, or lucky money. These packets are given out to children and to the servicepeople who help you out during the year. I know that as foreigners we weren't expected to know about and participate in this ritual of the New Year, but if we did, it sure would earn us extra credit. But that's not why I decided to do it. I did it because I've experienced firsthand how a holiday tip goes a long way to making life more pleasant (this was especially true in the case of my former building superintendents). But most importantly, the folks who work in my building are genuinely nice and helpful people.

So, at the stationer's shop just around the corner, we browsed through a hundred different designs of lai see packets and walked out with these:

It absolutely won't do to fill the lai see with any old money crumpled up in your wallet. This occasion demands nothing less than crisp, new bills. This means that, in the days leading up to the New Year, millions of people are queueing up at the banks, demanding thousands of dollars worth of new bills in exchange for their old ones. The local news featured stories of people waiting in line for hours to get their new bills. The first bank branch I tried had actually run out of bills for the day. Fortunately, the second branch rewarded me with this assortment, after only a short wait in line:

I'll be giving out the lai see along with the greeting, Gung Hei Fat Choi, which means, "Congratulations, and be prosperous!"

Finally, at the Flower Market, we picked up this miniature orange tree. Taking a cue from the decorations at the gas station on the corner, I trimmed the tree with lai see envelopes. The red kalanchoe next to it is a good omen because it's red (the color of happiness) and it's in flower, which promises a good year.

The only thing wrong with our decorations has been a little problem with the tree: we discovered it's infested with bugs! It's some kind of little gnat that doesn't bite or anything, but it is really annoying. Andy and I have been swatting them all over the place since we brought it home.

I haven't been able to find anything that can tell me if bugs in your orange tree is a good omen. I'm going to assume that it is.