As in the Western region, food is a very important part of all of our celebrations. This is no different for the Chinese New Year celebration.

Chinese New Year food is a huge part of the entire celebration and everyone notices the degree of cooking when this fabulous holiday rolls around. While Chinese New Years has been adopted and celebrated around the world, many people do not know that this fabulous holiday has actually been dubbed the Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year.

The neat thing about the Chinese New Year is that food, banquets of food is served for fifteen days straight until the new lunar moon, for that is when the Chinese New Year happens. Food is a huge part of this tradition. In the states, caterers are brought in and serve many, many people at all sorts of celebrations, but back in China, many of the families cook all of their own foods and cook for many, many people.

Sometimes, certain foods are served based on how they look. Entire chickens are popular because they symbolize togetherness among the
family unit. When you serve an entire chicken during the celebration, it is assurance that the family will be together and stay together. This is
something that all families want for the coming new year.

Another food item that is served during the Chinese New Year is noodles. Now, noodles are popular in Chinese culture in general, but there is a story behind the noodle. Noodles in Chinese culture can sometimes symbolize a long life line, so serving noodles at Chinese New Year is definitely a great idea. Whether you are serving noodle soup, a noodle side or anything else that has noodles in it, serving noodles for this fabulous holiday is a very traditional and great way to bring in the new year.

In certain cases, some foods are served simply because the word for them sounds like a word for something else. If the name of a food sounds anything like the words for luck, fortune, ambition, abundance, et cetera, they will most likely be served during the celebration. For instance, many citrus fruits are included for this reason.

Fish is definitely one of the Chinese New Year foods that every single celebration has, one reason is the word ‘yu’ that usually symbolizes wish or abundance. It has been said that many people serve fish at their New Year celebrations because if the head and tail of the fish are still attached, the year will begin and end on a good note.

What many of us know about Chinese tea fits in the small teapot served to us at our nearby Chinese restaurant. But, as many of us can surmise, this hardly encapsulates the variety of Chinese tea. In fact, Chinese tea includes a bold and flavorful variety of many different combinations of tea – the history of which extends to nearly 4,000 years ago. Often used primarily for medicinal purposes, Chinese tea has a long and complex history of experimentally combining herbs to find the balance that would yield a cure. As the centuries passed, the drinking of Chinese tea became more for enjoyment purposes and less for medicinal purposes.

In these early days, Chinese tea was the beverage around which centered much of the culture’s social rituals. Today, Chinese tea is enjoyed all over the world for the same reasons it was so enjoyed in China all those years ago and still today – the unique depth of flavor. When referring to Chinese tea, eight different classifications are often cited: black tea, green tea, white tea, yellow tea, red tea, compressed tea, flowered tea – such as jasmine, and oolong tea. Within these classifications are literally thousands of different types.

The advantages of drinking Chinese tea go beyond the flavor; Chinese tea has been shown to have significant health benefits including the lowering of blood pressure and increased immunity. Chinese tea is sold loosely or in processed packets depending on the level of convenience required. Chinese tea can be found in most stores around the world. For a more comprehensive selection you are best to visit an Asian market where you’ll find the greatest variety of Chinese tea.