If you’re single and know a married person celebrating the Lunar New Year, just ask them (phonetically) “Hun BAU na lai!” –which basically means, show me the money!  Single women get to ask married people for lucky envelopes with a token amount of golden or lucky money.

Vivian, a co-worker of mine who hails from Beijing, tells the story of a six-hour long New Year’s eve TV show that was practically mandatory in all Chinese households.  “We’d want to just go out with our friends but would get guilt-ed into spending this marathon six hours watching the show at home.  It’s funny too, because we joke that it was basically the same script every year with the same hosts for many years.”  And we thought Dick Clark’s New Year’s celebration had a history.

Another Chinese friend suggests that people say it’s lucky to wear red undies during the entire Lunar New Year celebration.  Good to know!

Evidently, this year, the year of the “golden”, or white metal rabbit, promises a year with more feminine attributes—encouraging peaceful negotiation instead of violence, calm reflection, and honouring culture.  If you’re not sure what animal sign you are check here to find out—based on the year of your birth.

Happy New Year to everyone and here’s to lucky money for all single women in the Year of the Rabbit!