What is the first day of the Chinese New Year called? What do you eat on the first day of the Chinese New Year?

The first day of the first lunar month usually refers to the first day of the lunar calendar. It is the beginning of the year. As the first day of the new year, its status in the hearts of the Chinese people is self-evident. So what is the first day of the Lunar New Year called? What to eat on New Year’s Day?

What is the first day of the Lunar New Year called?

The first day of the Lunar New Year is also called the Rooster Day. The first day of the first lunar month is the beginning of the lunar year, month and day. This day is the first day of the first lunar month. Because it is the first new moon day, it is also called the "New Year's Day".

【Rooster Day】

The first day of the Lunar New Year is also called Chicken Day because it is the beginning of the year and the first day of the first lunar month. At the same time, because it symbolizes the first day of the first lunar month, it also symbolizes a festival, so the first day of the Lunar New Year is also called New Year. It is a new beginning, a day to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new.

【Yuan Shuo】

The first day of the Lunar New Year is also called Yuanshuo, which means the beginning. It represents welcoming the future festive days and sending away the bad luck of the previous year. In order to welcome this new year, people are very cautious and full of confidence. People will clean their homes in advance and make them tidy. They will also buy various New Year goods and decorate their homes. In addition, they will put up couplets, window flowers, door gods, worship the God of Wealth, go to temples to worship and pray for blessings, and every household will congratulate each other on the New Year and say auspicious words. Many of these have become prescribed procedures, but it must be said that every step of this joyous occasion is full of blessings.

What to eat on New Year’s Day?

1. Rice cake: Rice cake has become a must-have seasonal food in every household due to its homophonic pronunciation of “nian gao” (meaning “year is high”) and its variety of flavors. There are two types of rice cakes: square-shaped yellow and white rice cakes, which symbolize gold and silver, and imply getting rich in the New Year.

2. Wannianliang: In some parts of Guangdong, the first meal of the Spring Festival is "Wannianliang", which means preparing enough food for the family to eat for three days of the Spring Festival, implying "no worries about food and drink".

3. Dumplings: Eating dumplings on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day is a custom of people in the north, but now many people in the south have also joined the ranks of eating dumplings. Eating dumplings on New Year’s Eve means “bringing good luck to the coming year”, while eating dumplings on New Year’s Day is for bringing good luck to the whole year.

4. Glutinous Rice Balls: Glutinous Rice Balls for breakfast on the first day of the Lunar New Year must have a special meaning. Its meaning is: everything goes well and the family is happily reunited.

5. Noodles: Long noodles, also called longevity noodles, are eaten on the first day of the Lunar New Year, which means "long years and years" and is a wish for a long life of a hundred years. Many elderly people still maintain this custom.

6. Chicken soup: Drinking chicken soup on the first day of the Lunar New Year symbolizes "peace". In addition, the main labor force in the family also has to eat chicken feet, which means "grabbing wealth in the new year."

7. Sweets: Eating sweets on the first day of the Lunar New Year means a happy, sweet and fulfilling life in the new year.