- personal note on Chinese lunar new year, dumplings, friendship and participation following her own principles -
Many nation has some kind of dumplings in the national cuisine but probably Chinese dumplings are the most known. China, with the largest population of any country in the world (with estimated to be approximately 1.354 billion people), celebrated the New Year's Eve 4 days ago. So approximately 1.354 billion people eat dumpling that day. And two more for sure. An hour of not standing for anything but sitting down and relaxing.
- Hey, would you join me to have some dumplings tonight, wrote me a friend of mine Thursday morning. She wanted to go to that Chinese restaurant I wanted to show her the other day, Lanzhou in Luther street.
I don't care much about calendars, zodiac, astrology signs of any culture, but she is a very good friend of mine and she was born in the year of the horse. 2014 is the year of the wood horse, taking over from the year of the water snake, so she is supposed to see this year some major changes in her life, according to the Chinese zodiac. We went to Lanzhou in Luther street, a small Chinese restaurant which is quite renamed for its cuisine. I wish her sincerely the changes she is expecting in her life.
Chinese New Year is a two-week long holiday , the longest one in China, that begins on the first day of the lunar calendar, so it is also called Lunar New Year. It is, in the meantime, considered the beginning of spring, so it is also called Spring Festival. The celebration begins with a family reunion dinner, the New Year's Eve dinner, that the majority of Chinese will have at home. In the New Year's Eve dinner, normally fish will be served, but dumplings are the most important dish, especially in northern China. These two dishes, dumplings and fish, mean prosperous. The upside down character of the letter named Fú (福) means also ‘good fortune’ or ‘happiness’ and it is usually written on a diamond shape paper with red background. Chinese looking for luck and happiness decorate their wall with a poster designed with the Fu character. Maybe happiness and luck are in some relation with Fu and dumplings, but certainly they need time to born.
The other thing I never do is drinking tea. I am much too impatient for tea. But somehow in the Lanzhou one just gets in the mood for tea. A tea for two. A tea for friendship. With a cup of tea even waiting, the thing I most hate to do, can be enjoyed. Usually my life is quite a mess, I’m stressed, I have a long list of to do-s that became longer and longer and I am worried about being worried too much on things and not caring about others, probably even more important ones. That friend of mine teaches me how to relax.
Feng shui practitioner Raymond Lo told to Reuters: “The upcoming Horse year is also a 'yang wood' year, when people will stick more to their principles and stand firm. So it is hard to negotiate or compromise as there are more tendencies for people to fight for their ideals.”- reported the Independent. Seems to match current breaking news. Near to me and far from here, people are fighting not only for their ideals but also their lives. This must be a tough year. One more reason to say yes indeed this is my cup of tea.
