Now that you have gone through your basic training on Spring Festival faux pas in Part 1 of this series, you need to get ready for the big day -- New Year's Day (大年初一). The first day of the year starts with the first new moon of the first month on the Chinese lunar calendar.
The following are 10 rules to follow specifically on New Year's Day, unless you really want a bad start to your year:
1. Set off fireworks and bang gongs at midnight on New Year's Eve
In addition to the color red, "Nian" (the New Year monster) also greatly fears fire and loud noise. This is why many people set off fireworks, clang gongs and generally make a lot of racket on Chinese New Year's Eve.
2. Don't sleep until after midnight
In addition to tucking money under the pillow, people stay up past midnight to usher in the New Year. Originally the practice was meant to watch out for the crafty "Sui" (祟) creature, or "guard against Sui" (守祟), but now this has become "preserving time" (守歲), to ensure good fortune throughout the year.
3. Don't wake people up
Even though many people may be sleeping in from a long night, avoid the temptation to wake them. If you wake a person up on this day, especially if you call them by name or offer them New Year's greetings, they will have trouble waking up and will need constant prodding to get things done for the whole year.
4. Don't wash your hair
The Chinese character for "hair" (髮) is a homonym with the first character for the Chinese word "fortune" (發財). Washing your hair will wash away this fortune.
5. Wear red underwear and new clothes
It is considered extra good luck if you wear red underwear. Wearing new clothes symbolizes a fresh new start to the coming year.
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