0:14 long ago
0:17 on a fateful night just as the new year began
0:18 began
0:22 a mythical beast called nien emerged
0:23 from the darkness
0:30 nien began hunting people and animals
0:34 and destroying their homes
0:38 it was utter chaos people had no
0:40 idea how to protect themselves from the beast
0:42 beast
0:45 eventually they discovered that nien was
0:48 afraid of loud noises
0:52 fire and the color
0:56 red so from then on
0:59 before new year's day people would post
1:02 red cuplets which contain blessings and
1:04 wishes they have for the new year
1:08 on the front of their houses they would
1:08 also light
1:12 loud and bright firecrackers and hang
1:15 lanterns to scare the beast away just in
1:18 case he was still around
1:21 did you know that this story actually
1:22 tells us the legend of how
1:27 chinese new year began
1:30 chinese new year also known as
1:34 luna new year is a festival celebrated
1:36 every year by chinese communities worldwide
1:38 worldwide
1:42 from hong kong to london and sydney
1:46 to san francisco it is a very important
1:48 festival to chinese people
1:50 because they believe that a good start
1:52 to the year
1:56 will lead to a lucky and prosperous year
1:58 chinese new year starts on the very
1:59 first day
2:02 of the lunar calendar this day
2:06 usually falls in january or february
2:08 like a lot of celebrations around the
2:11 world and in different cultures
2:13 there are special traditions that are
2:14 observed during
2:17 chinese new year one of the most
2:20 obvious traditions is the use of the color
2:21 color
2:24 red this is because red
2:27 represents good fortune and happiness
2:29 that is why you'll see lots of red decorations
2:30 decorations
2:33 such as lanterns and couplets hanging around
2:34 around
2:38 streets buildings and in houses as well [Music]
2:40 [Music]
2:42 one of the exciting parts of chinese new year
2:43 year
2:46 are all the red envelopes
2:49 these envelopes have money inside and
2:50 are given to
2:52 children by married adults which bless
3:01 firecrackers are also set off to sound
3:04 out the old year and welcome in a better
3:05 new year
3:10 chinese new year is an important time
3:13 for families to be together
3:15 people come home from all around the
3:17 world to celebrate the festival
3:20 with their families on chinese new year's
3:21 year's
3:24 eve families sit together at round tables
3:24 tables
3:29 for a reunion dinner and enjoy a feast
3:31 some foods are extra popular at this time
3:32 time
3:35 because their names or appearances carry
3:37 positive symbolic meanings
3:41 these foods include dumplings mandarins
3:43 mandarins [Music]
3:44 [Music]
3:51 [Music]
3:54 during chinese new year you can say [Music]
4:00 [Music]
4:03 which means happy new year may all your
4:09 everyone celebrates special days in
4:11 their own way
4:13 different people have different
4:15 traditions that they enjoy
4:17 during their festivals and these are
4:19 just some of the common ones
4:28 seen during chinese new year you
