Can I go out on New Year's Eve? Can I go out on New Year's Eve?

New Year’s Eve is the night of the 30th day of the lunar year. On this day, every family will get together to have a new year’s eve dinner and then stay up until midnight. So, can we go out on New Year’s Eve? Can we go out and play on New Year's Eve?

Can we go out on New Year's Eve?

According to the old tradition, you cannot go out. Legend has it that there will be a beast called Xi on this night. For the sake of good luck, it is best not to go out. Moreover, according to our country's traditional customs, the whole family must get together on New Year's Eve to have a reunion dinner, also known as sitting around the fire. However, it is not so particular nowadays and many people go out to play after eating the New Year’s Eve dinner. Some people even travel outside to celebrate the New Year, which is also a new way to celebrate the New Year.

Is it good to come home late on New Year's Eve?

If you follow traditional customs, it is best not to return home late on this day. Because New Year's Eve is also the legendary festival for ancestor worship, it is said that the yin energy is heavier during the time period of ancestor worship. If you delay returning home at night, it may bring adverse effects. At the same time, when you open the door in the morning on New Year's Day, or when you go out to pay New Year's greetings, you must set off "door-opening firecrackers", also called "opening the door to wealth", and usually a string of firecrackers is set off. It is considered unlucky to go out without setting off firecrackers. Therefore, it is better to come back early this evening and spend the New Year's Eve with your family.

Other taboos on New Year's Eve

1. It is taboo to have people visiting during the New Year’s Eve dinner. During a formal meal, it is very taboo to be disturbed by others, especially not to have someone visit, because this is called "stepping on the New Year's dinner", which will make the whole family restless.

2. Don’t touch the “fish”. On New Year’s Eve, the whole family eats the “family reunion dinner” together, which feels like a family reunion during the Chinese New Year. When eating the reunion dinner, the "fish" on the table cannot be moved, because the fish represents "wealth" and "abundance every year", and symbolizes "wealth and luck" in the coming year. It is a decoration and cannot be touched.

3. Avoid going to bed too early. Staying up all night on New Year's Eve actually means not sleeping on New Year's Eve and staying up late to welcome the arrival of the new year. "Shousui" means to guard the last day of the year.

4. You must go home at midnight. After the reunion dinner is finished amidst laughter and joy, the family will sit around the TV to watch the Spring Festival Gala, or visit relatives to chat, but must return home before midnight. Once it is midnight, the whole family will stay up at home. When the clock hands pass 12 o'clock, people will set off firecrackers that have been prepared in advance to celebrate the arrival of the New Year.