Donna:

In China, Chinese New Year is known as chūnjié (春节), or Spring Festival. Paradoxically, it is the coldest time of the year, but it marks the turn-around in seasons, when people begin to look forward to spring (and in the old days, new planting). It symbolizes new beginnings and fresh starts. 
Chinese New Year is also called the Lunar New Year based on the traditional lunar calendar and this year we welcomed the Year of the Ox in February. Traditions include fireworks and firecrackers, large variety shows and banquets and lots of food, clothes and flower shopping! However, due to the ongoing pandemic, things in general were very quiet as compared to previous years: less public decorations, very few tourists and no large scale public events were held. We enjoyed a lovely home celebration with Emanuel and Mandy as our gracious hosts which included the traditional menu of dumplings, fish, spring rolls, meat, veggies and so much more! Good friends and the TV Gala event welcomed in the New Year!
One thing that continued on was the spirit of good cheer within the community! By far, the most common greeting in our Cantonese speaking world is “Gong Hei Fat Choy” This greeting means something along the lines of “Wishing you prosperity and good fortune.”  “Sun Lin Fai Lok ” is the Cantonese equivalent of the Mandarin “Xin Nian Kuai Le”, the all pervasive ” Happy New Year” greeting! The New Year was a great time to connect with family, neighbors, colleagues and friends. Wishing everyone a good one!