New Year’s Eve is time for family reunion so many stay home and watch The New Year Eve Celebration on TV while playing Majiang and feasting.  Some may go out at night to visit the Zhan Shan Temple and wait for the countdown and experience the happiness that occurs during the Zi moment.  Others now may spend their New Year’s Eve in a non traditional way and go out to a bar or Disco Club with friends (since they might not be able to go home).  No matter what they do it is time to celebrate.  The rest of the New Year Period has many activities that people can attend and enjoy.

Entertainment of the New Year starts on New Year’s Day and formally ends on Lantern Festival.  Qingdao still holds the Radish and Candy Fruit Festival after the Lantern Festival.  There are still many concerts, performances and TV shows throughout the festival.  Throughout China you maybe lucky to experience Lion, dragon or Stilt performances at the local temple or flower fair.

The presence of the ancestors is acknowledged on New Year's Eve with a dinner arranged for them at the family banquet table. The spirits of the ancestors, together with the living, celebrate the onset of the New Year as one great community. The communal feast called "surrounding the stove" or weilu. It symbolizes family unity and honors the past and present generations.

On New Years Eve in Qingdao families get together and have a meal. Foods that are symbols of good fortune for the New Year are dumplings, long noodles and fish here in Qingdao.  They then tend to watch the New Year’s Eve TV show like Bob Clark’s in Times Square in New York.  Many people watch it while playing Majiang (a kind of Chess) while drinking and eaten snacks.  Keep in mind that CCTV 4 and CCTV9 has a bilingual show but many will tell you the more popular one is the Hunan New Year’s Eve Show.

Many young Chinese people go out to Wu Si Square and celebrate and wait for the countdown.  After midnight some go out to local clubs like Feelings or Babyface and etcetera to party the night away. Others may go to the Zhan Shan Temple and ceremoniously ring the bell three times, one for health, one for family and the last for wealth.

New Year Greetings  begin before the actual New Year’s Day.  It consists of giving of extending greetings to relatives, classmates, teachers and leaders.   In ancient times members of a village would get together and exchange greetings.  Greetings for friends and relatives were supposed to happen from New Year’s Day to the fifth.  Any other greetings after the fifth day would be considered “late New Year calls”.  Parents would accompany their children to visit friends and family and the younger relatives would of course greet the older relatives.

Sometimes if somebody couldn’t go they would send their siblings or children.  Of course the house would be prepared way before New Years Day to receive guest and would the host would have refreshments and snacks to treat their visitors.  The cheerful atmosphere that exists is called the “Tradition of a land of ceremony and propriety”

As early as the Song Dynasty people use to send New Year’s Cards to their families and friends. The New Year’s Cards became a very strong fashion and a way for people to show their social status.  By the Ming Dynasty New Year Cards were mass produced and sold, those of the Qing Dynasty being the most exquisite.  When Younger relatives greeted their older relatives the tradition of the Hong Bao occurred.  The Hong Bao is a red envelope that contains an amount of money.  The Hong Bao is given to children and younger relatives not married yet.

In Qingdao as well as the rest of China these traditions are still strong.  People as early as Xiao Nian (23 day of the 12th month lunar calendar) begin to bring gifts and New Year Cards to their teachers, bosses, officials etc; to thank them for all their help and benevolence.  Gifts such as boxes of fruit, rice wine, tea and plants passed exchanged between acquaintances, co-workers, teachers, family and friends.  The festive time of New Year is traced with the Gift Giving and appreciating those that are there for you.