The 6 things you need to do before Chinese New Year

You’ll find that ‘new year, new me’ is absolutely not a trendy new concept. The Chinese have symbolically gotten rid of the old to make way for the new for centuries now, especially during Chinese New Year. Before the festivities begin, people start thoroughly cleaning their houses from top to bottom – we’re talking about moving furniture to get at the floors and walls, scrubbing down the grout in the bathroom, and even risking their lives wiping the outside of their windows. As you can imagine, this is a bit of an undertaking, so people will usually start spring cleaning at least a week before CNY.

The important thing to remember here is that you should never clean during the first day of Chinese New Year, as this equates to clearing out good fortune. Also, this might not be as applicable in today’s age of Dyson vacuum cleaners, but older Chinese people will tell you to always sweep the floors inwards and never out towards the door. This is to prevent sweeping out any good luck in your household.

Sharp objects are taboo during Chinese New Year because they symbolise the severing of ties, which is why nobody gets their hair cut during this time of year. To prevent your mane from looking too wild and straggly when you go around visiting friends and relatives, make sure you book your hair appointment before Chinese New Year arrives.

We don’t really need an excuse to go shopping, but it’s great that Chinese tradition provides us with one anyway. New clothes symbolise a clean slate and fresh start, so save them for the new year and don’t be tempted to pull on that new shirt for a quick 7/11 run! Buying underwear also counts as having new clothes, by the way. If you’re into bright colours, this season is also great for stocking up on red-coloured clothing, as a vivid crimson is the auspicious colour for Chinese New Year.

Yes, we know, it doesn’t even feel that long ago since we decked the halls for Christmas, but Chinese New Year requires its own set of decorations. Decorating the door to your home is the most important. New Year couplets bearing good wishes are fixed onto both sides of the doorway, and the character for good fortune (‘fook’; 福) hung inverted on the door itself. Because ‘upside down’ and ‘arrived’ sound the same in Chinese, this symbolises good fortune arriving at your house.

Elsewhere in the house, you can hang more couplets and red lanterns as you please. There are also plenty of plants, flowers, and fruits that carry auspicious meanings, so make a trip over to the CNY Flower Market or Mong Kok Flower Market and start browsing.

According to Chinese superstition, if you begin a new year in debt, you’ll likely end the year in debt too. This is why you should strive to clear the red out of any ledger and accounts, and pay back money owed to family and friends. Unfortunately, we’re pretty sure this means credit cards as well, but hey, anything to attract as much fortune as possible this CNY, right?

Similar to spring cleaning, people tend to do a thorough cleanse of hair and body before Chinese New Year. The colloquial saying goes ‘The 28th day [is for] washing the dirt away’ (年廿八, 洗邋遢), so allocate a good hour or so on the 28th day of the lunar month – which falls on February 7 this year.

Pomelo leaves are believed to have particularly cleansing properties that can rid you of bad juju, so Chinese people will boil them in water then use it to rinse from head to toe, or straight up use the leaves to scrub all over, as the final step in the deep cleansing shower routine.