Rules on visiting and tossing yusheng
7 things to note this Chinese New Year amid COVID-19
Eight visitors a day in a household and no shouting while tossing yusheng - this Chinese New Year will be a much quieter affair given new COVID-19 restrictions announced on Friday (Jan 22). The tighter measures come amid a recent rise in community cases and the possible risk of transmission during the festive period.
“Let us be mentally prepared that Chinese New Year this year will not be the same as before," said Education Minister and co-chair of the COVID-19 task force Lawrence Wong at a press conference. "It will be quieter, it will be more subdued. And we will have to be more disciplined in how we go about our daily activities and interactions.”
Here’s what you need to take note of before welcoming the Year of the Ox:
A reunion dinner "Nián Yè Fàn" 年夜飯 (also known as Tuán Nián 團年 or Wéi Lú, 圍爐 meaning "gathering around the family hearth") is traditionally held on Chinese New Year's Eve during which family members gather for celebration. It is considered to be the most important part of the celebration and every family member is expected to return to their families. Traditionally, married couples will go the the man’s parental homes (and to the woman's parents on the second day of the festivities).
- EIGHT VISITORS PER DAY AT EACH HOUSEHOLD
- DON’T FORGET YOUR FACE MASK, TRACETOGETHER TOKEN
- KEEP YOUR LOHEI QUIET
- NO MULTIPLE TABLE BOOKINGS
- NO CNY COMPANY EVENTS
- GIFT AN E-HONGBAO
- MORE ENFORCEMENT CHECKS
Nián Yè Fàn 年夜飯
A reunion dinner "Nián Yè Fàn" 年夜飯 (also known as Tuán Nián 團年 or Wéi Lú, 圍爐 meaning "gathering around the family hearth") is traditionally held on Chinese New Year's Eve during which family members gather for celebration. It is considered to be the most important part of the celebration and every family member is expected to return to their families. Traditionally, married couples will go the the man’s parental homes (and to the woman's parents on the second day of the festivities).
Reunion dinner is supposed to bring everyone in the family harmoniously together, but for some reasons or other, not following the tradition, is causing tensions among families. This is especially so if one is celebrating his/her reunion with his/her parents as well as with the in-laws. It is therefore not surprising that one would have reunion dinners on a different earlier dates and nowadays, some hold it a week or two before the actual day. By doing so, the traditionalists believe that the Chinese New Year's Eve Reunion Dinner is losing or has even lost its meaning and significance.
To keep up with the tradition that Chinese New Year's Eve Reunion Dinner should be held on its actual date, and that married couples should return to man's parental homes, many families are compromising in order to make everybody happy:
- Eating reunion dinner twice, which means having the first dinner early, and then rushing off to do a second dinner by a certain time on the same actual day.
- Alternating the dinners yearly, one year with parent and following year with in-laws.
