Hoppy Chinese New Year

Congratulations and be Prosperous!

For Good Luck, do this today:

1. Open your windows and doors (to let the good luck in)
2. Switch on the night light (it will scare away the ghosts and spirits of misfortune)
3. Eat treats (to ensure a sweet year)
4. Clean house from top to bottom before New Year's Day
5. Buy a lottery ticket (what happens on new years day reflects the year to come)
6. Sport a new pair of slippers bought before the new year (to step on the people who gossip about you)
7. Bathe in pomelo leaves (to ensure a healthy year)

For Bad Luck, do this today:

1. Buy a pair of shoes (the word "shoes" is a homophone for the word for "rough" in Cantonese—or "evil" in Mandarin)
2. Buy a pair of pants (the word "pants"(kù) is a homophone for the word for "bitter"(kŭ) in Cantonese
3. Wash your hair (you'll wash away your own luck—although Foo thinks modern hygienic concerns should trump tradition)
4. Sweep the floor (it will sweep away your good fortune and luck for the new year)
5. Talk about death (it's inauspicious and frankly, a little creepy)
6. Buy books (the word "book" is a homonym to the word "lose")
7. Wear black or white (black is a symbol of bad luck; white, a traditional funeral color)
   

2008—Year of the Rat