Houston Celebrates Chinese New Year, Golden Pig Year

Chinese New Year 4075, the Year of the Pig — or if you prefer the cuter version, the Year of the Boar — officially begins Feb. 18, but events have been happening for the past month and will continue through March. "Lunar New Year in our family is definitely a time of renewal, a welcoming of new possibilities," said Chi Mei, executive director of the Houston Chinese Community Center which is hosting an all-day event Saturday, Feb. 17th featuring Chinese performances, art and food.

This year may be especially fruitful, since rumors have spread that it's the Year of the Golden Pig , which occurs every 60 years.

That makes it a good year to have babies — pigs are supposed to have easy lives and are blessed by luck and wealth.

There have even been rumors floating that the Year of the Golden Pig comes by every 600 years — perhaps a myth started by fortunetellers in China and Korea, a Korea Times article said. If that's true, then the pig(let) will be especially blessed this year.

Others say the hype is suspected to be a marketing ploy for wedding and baby goods industries — just as last year was touted to be a great year to get married, based on the lunar calendar.
Whichever the case — and perhaps no one knows — many public events celebrating the Lunar New Year have cropped up in recent years.

Oliver Chin, who recently released a children's picture book titled "The Year of the Pig," said he has about 30 events lined up this month, ranging from library and school readings to museums. He said, "It's really become a nationwide celebration, and as I continue to do each new book, I'm finding more and more that different groups are celebrating Chinese New Year."

Sometimes known as Chinese New Year, the holiday is also celebrated by many others who follow the lunar calendar, or moon cycles, including Vietnamese and Koreans.

The Chinese zodiac includes 12 signs: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Boar (Pig). In the Vietnamese zodiac, there is a slight variation: Rabbit is replaced by Cat. That means that someone born in 2007, 1995, 1983, 1971, 1959 or 1947 and so on is likely a pig, unless born on the cusp. A pig's characteristics include honesty, straighforwardness and patience.

New Year is a family celebration, a time when people reunite with their loved ones, share a good meal — along with "auspicious foods" — and pay respect to elders, Huang said.

While there is no one way to celebrate — traditions are often different even among Chinese, ranging from Taiwanese to Cantonese and Northern Chinese styles — there are similarities.
Greeting elders in the new year with a hearty "Gong hay fat choy" (Cantonese), or "Gong xi fat tsai (Mandarin), is common. In return, elders give children — and sometimes unmarried adults — a lai see/hong bao, or red envelope, with money in it. The new year phrase doesn't mean happy new year, but wishing someone prosperity in the new year.

In Vietnamese, "Chuc mung nam moi" does literally mean "happy new year."
The word "auspicious" is often used. Red is auspicious — hence red envelopes and red firecrackers — as well as certain foods.

"There are a lot of oranges in the new year because the word 'orange' — 'cheng' (in Mandarin) — has the same pronunciation as (the Mandarin word for) 'success' or 'completion,'" said Huang, whose family is from Taiwan.

A lot of wordplay does occur, whether in Chinese or Vietnamese. Sticky rice cake is a popular food, for example. In Chinese, "nian" means "sticky" but is also a homonym of "year." It also symbolizes togetherness (very auspicious), and is another reason why it's popular.

This year's Chinese New Year festivities feature traditional rituals, such as the unicorn dance and popping firecrackers, as well as traditional and pop singers. Admission is free and everyone is invited to attend.

Chinese New Year Festival
At Chinese Community Center
9800 Town Park
Houston, TX 77036

713-271-6100.