Is Chinese new year observed in your place? There are many Chinese In the Philippines so it is logical to celebrate Chinese new year. The rich Chinese here give away gifts like Tikoy - that is a delicacy made of glutinous rice that is fried as a snack food. And more, they also give away the red envelopes with money inside. And for the food, it is noodles, of course. But we do not celebrate Chinese new year in our house because we are not Chinese... although we accept gifts, hahahaaah.
Yes, there is a large Chinese population here. It is talked about even among those who are not Chinese. It's the Year of the Monkey. When I lived in the SF Bay Area, I would go to Chinatown for the new year celebrations. We have a large Chinatown here, but I have never been to it.
We celebrated Chinese New Year by giving out Lai See or Hongbao to the children. You can fill the traditional red envelope with coins or dollar bills. My kids always look forward to getting them each New Year. These red envelopes are also given at weddings and birthdays. The red symbolizes good luck. We go out for a family dinner and of course we eat noodles. Noodles symbolize long life. Another tradition we follow is not to to sweep or clean on New Years Day for fear that it will sweep away good fortune.
I think many countries have a Chines community and that it's celebrated. Especially as the Chinese zodiac is popular, people like to follow which animal it is and what effects it will have. In the UK there are many dragon dances and stores tend to have special offers on Chinese meals.
Where I live they have huge celebrations for Chinese New Year. The streets are lined with lanterns all over the place and a lot of red is displayed generally. As @Theo said, many places also have dragon dances or parades in the streets even, and Chinese meals tend to be on sale. Chinese restaurants in particular seem to really celebrate Chinese New Year with a lot of great deals to be had on their food and drinks but I've also seen take away meals cheaply in supermarkets around Chinese New Year too.
Wow, the Chinese community in your country are so generous! Good on you for accepting the gifts, it'd be silly ...no scratch that, it'd be RUDE to say no LOL We have some Chinese here, mainly businessmen, but we don't celebrate the Chinese New Year. It's not something we've ever done, or even considered. In my UK home town, I used to see all these red lanterns released into the sky, painting it very pretty.
I'm not saying the Chinese are taking over but in the metro, the dragon dance is getting common. It is a dragon costume that is fit for 2 or more people. With the accompaniment of drums, they go from store to store inside the mall for a short dance and thereafter the store attendant or owner would give them the red envelope with money. The richest Filipino is actually a Chinese who owns the largest mall chain. So it is understandable with that tradition of the dragon dance.
That sounds like so much fun! I can imagine the burst of colour during that time of year is breath taking. I think I've seen pictures of the dragon costume that fits two people. The children must love it! I know I would have a lot of fun with all that going on, actually.
We are from the same country, so my answer is also the same, but since I'm not Chinese then I don't celebrate it too, but I do get to receive the occasional "tikoy" from friends.
