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Celebrating Chinese New Year, 新年快乐!

新年快乐!

Today is Chinese New Year, and our multicultural house is celebrating the beginning of spring (not quite there yet in Canada!) and the beginning of the year of the Snake.

Mark and I dressed in red for the day, and we hung a 福 (the Chinese characters for “good luck”) upside down at the front door. We are watching Beijing TV on the computer and Feng really wishes he could find a few firecrackers to celebrate properly—but no such luck in Canada.

Welcome to our Canadian-Chinese-French household where traditions and customs from all over the world are celebrated!

Mark was born in the year of the Dragon that is coming to a close today. I didn’t exactly plan it but this sign is considered very auspicious in China and my in-laws were quite happy to have a “baby dragon”. Feng is a tiger, another great sign, and I am… a pig. Yep. Guess my French parents didn’t check the Chinese horoscope before deciding to have their first child!

Wherever we are in the world, we’ve always celebrated Chinese New Year one way or another, including making dumplings in hostels a couple of times or heading to the nearest Chinese restaurant.

Today, our main task was to “包饺子”, i.e. make the traditional chive and celery dumplings. We took turn putting the homemade filling (chive, celery, meat and spices) in the little wrapping squares and had dinner with my in-laws.

Happy Chinese New Year to all of you!

Mark, the "Good Luck"  Character and I
Mark, the “Good Luck” Character and I
Mark Says "Happy New Year"!
Mark Says “Happy New Year”!
Minced Celery and Cabbage
Minced Celery and Cabbage
The Secret Ingredient: Jiucai
The Secret Ingredient: Jiucai
The Secret Ingredient: Jiucai
The Secret Ingredient: Jiucai
The Secret Ingredient: Jiucai
The Secret Ingredient: Jiucai
Some Chive's Gona Get Hurt...
Some Chive’s Gona Get Hurt…
My Mother In-Law, The Expert
My Mother In-Law, The Expert
My Mother In-Law, The Expert
My Mother In-Law, The Expert
Making Dumplings
Making Dumplings
Making Dumplings
Making Dumplings
Making Dumplings
Making Dumplings
Making Dumplings
Making Dumplings
Making Dumplings
Making Dumplings
Making Dumplings
Making Dumplings
Boiled and Ready to Eat!
Boiled and Ready to Eat!
Happy Chinese New Year!
Happy Chinese New Year!
Making the Dumplings
Making the Dumplings
The Filing and the Chives
The Filing and the Chives
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Zhu

French woman in English Canada.

Exploring the world with my camera since 1999, translating sentences for a living, writing stories that may or may not get attention.

Firm believer that nobody is normal... and it’s better this way.

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