Happy Chinese Niu Year!
Tonight there are celebrations for the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Ox. An ox is called 'niu' in Chinese, so you can wish everyone a happy niu-year! Don't believe it when you read somewhere the Chinese are celebrating the year 4753 or whatever figure you might be reading - traditionally, the Chinese really don't count that way.
Chinese count the years of the reign of the emperor. So your year might be something like "12th year of emperor Kangxi (K'ang-hsi) of the Qing (Ch'ing) dynasty". As an emperor dies, the counting starts all over again. And if a new dynasty arrives, the dynasty name changes too. Of course your sense of history has to be in a firm place to figure out what year they are talking about! However, after 1911 this way of keeping calenders was discontinued when they adopted the system of the Western calendar. What remains in China is the most important festival of the year, the Chinese new year, which is also called 'Spring Festival'. Everyone has to travel back to celebrate it with their family.
In China everyone knows which animal of the Chinese zodiac is in turn: the ox. The coming year will be a year of hard-working, sturdy perseverance. What if it is 'your' year, if you were born in the same sign ? Your year will be special, but not always in a good sense, you have to be careful. Some Chinese wear a red ribbon around their waist for a full year. Only if you are 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72 or 84 (..count up) this year!
Happy Niu Year to everyone, have some Chinese dumplings (in Dutch), and let's make it a good one!
Chinese count the years of the reign of the emperor. So your year might be something like "12th year of emperor Kangxi (K'ang-hsi) of the Qing (Ch'ing) dynasty". As an emperor dies, the counting starts all over again. And if a new dynasty arrives, the dynasty name changes too. Of course your sense of history has to be in a firm place to figure out what year they are talking about! However, after 1911 this way of keeping calenders was discontinued when they adopted the system of the Western calendar. What remains in China is the most important festival of the year, the Chinese new year, which is also called 'Spring Festival'. Everyone has to travel back to celebrate it with their family.
In China everyone knows which animal of the Chinese zodiac is in turn: the ox. The coming year will be a year of hard-working, sturdy perseverance. What if it is 'your' year, if you were born in the same sign ? Your year will be special, but not always in a good sense, you have to be careful. Some Chinese wear a red ribbon around their waist for a full year. Only if you are 12, 24, 36, 48, 60, 72 or 84 (..count up) this year!
Happy Niu Year to everyone, have some Chinese dumplings (in Dutch), and let's make it a good one!
7 Comments:
Happy Newyear
Remi
????
remi
niu year! good pun!
Happy ? Year!
Clever!
Hi,
I got married on chinese new year (a few years back) and I now want to surprize my wife with some proper sichuan cooking...
I saw on a forum somewhere that you found the sichuan chilli's in Den Haag. I had a look in all 5 toko's I know but couldn't find the package you discribed (asking didn't help either)
I did find a package of sichuan chillies a the vegetarian toko in the wagenstraat but it is rather a small package... just about enough to make some chili oil and one dish... When I asked the owner of the shop if he had some more, he was as surprised to find the package in his shop as I was...
So that is hardly a stable supply line!
Can you help?
with kind regards,
Xander
Could you give me your email address Xander? We might work something out! I work in the Hague and I still have the package and might have a spare.
Still, you can make Sichuan food without these chiles, I think the best thing to buy for you for a Sichuan meal is Sichuan chili broad bean sauce, Pixian brand. What are you planning to cook? ;-)
Belated? Not exactly: "Kung Hei Fat Choi" for 2010.
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