"Gung Hay Fat Choy!" to all of you. While you may not immediately know what that means, I'm going to assume you have an idea, given the title of this post. As a child I remember singing that chant over and over again–to the complete annoyance of my friends and family–and am now starting back up again. I just can't help it, it's really fun to say.

"Gung Hay Fat Choy" is a Cantonese New Year's greeting meaning "May you become prosperous." During the Chinese New Year elderly people and married couples often gift red envelopes filled with money to children and unmarried people, which is supposed to give them good luck for the rest of the year. You may want to pass that information on to mom and dad if you're low on funds.   

The Chinese New Year falls on Monday, January 26th (it changes every year, as it's based on a lunar calendar), and I'm happy to announce that this is my year–the year of the Ox! All you cool kids (including me and fellow brass blogger Jens) that were born in 1985, it's time to celebrate our fabulousness and bask in the glory that is sure to descend upon us this year.

Click here to find out what animal your birth date fell under.

According to Chinese astrology, Oxen are natural leaders, hardworking, ambitious and modest. I hate to toot my own horn, but I've definitely got the modest part down. However, it also says that we can be materialistic and narrow--minded, which doesn't sound quite as accurate.

Either way, there are a lot of interesting traditions that take place during the 15 days of New Year festivities (learn more about them here) as well as some great parties. Even if you feel like staying in, you can still celebrate by cooking a traditional Chinese New Year recipe.

 --Erin

The pictures are taken from photostreams 1 and 2 and used with the permission of a Creative Commons license.

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