My Chinese New Year Celebration
Judi Chow

Traditionally, people celebrate Chinese New Year for about 15 days and I am experiencing it in Hong Kong this year. It starts on the 28th of the month before the New Year with major cleaning of the house, an opportunity to get rid of all the unused and unwanted junk to make room for the new. I look at my apartment- yes; it could use some deep cleaning, especially the windows covered with dust from the street traffic. 

On the day before New Year’s Eve, the house is clean, the celebration officially starts with feasting- please note, not fasting! Some old friends from the church I used to serve invited me over for a traditional big bowl feast. It is really tummy stuffing and heart warming to see most of them now in ministry serving as pastors, missionaries, and organization director focusing on specific people group’s needs. I enjoy this new tradition of feast and prayer!

New Year’s Eve is a biggie for Chinese to get together for that end-of–the-year family meal. Those of us single missionaries with no family close by could either be relaxing because we don’t have to cook up a storm or we could be feeling sorry for ourselves because we might be alone while everybody else seems to be with their families. My colleague, another single missionary, invited me to have this end-of-the-year meal with her family. It was a nice gesture, but I politely declined since I really needed rest more than good food and good company that night.

New Year’s Day is another day reserved for the family. My roommate and I walked several miles to a near-by fishing village, we chose a quiet place away from the people, on top of a huge rock, close to the ocean to reflect, evaluate, praise, and pray to the Lord for affirmation and grace for the coming year. It was delightfully refreshing. Afterwards, we treated ourselves to a very nice late lunch where we chose different kinds of live seafood in bins and tanks in front of a local restaurant in that small fishing village. It was a feast to start off the New Year for sure, and then we walked another several miles back home as the lights gradually were turning on from thousands of different apartments in the concrete high-rises. 

On the second day of this year of the rooster, people usually go out to their older relatives’ homes to show respect and to bid a New Year greeting with blessings. Kids or unmarried youngsters receive little red envelopes containing money from those who are married as a sign of wealth and prosperity. I did that with my family via long distance phone calls. My parents wanted to wire me the little red envelop money; being practical, I told them to save it until they see me face to face. Not sure when it happened, but I have become one of those who are older in Hong Kong, so people actually came to show their respect for me. Since I am not married, I am exempt from giving out red envelopes. Most stores are still closed for the holiday, yet people are in the mood to spend the newly-received money in those red envelops by scouting street venders and dim sum restaurants. 

On the third day before sunrise, I had to rush to the airport to pick up a speaker from the US for the member care conference coming up. As I was riding the bus on my way back to the apartment, it was a sight to behold when the bus passed by the biggest mosque in Hong Kong. I have never seen so many Middle Eastern men standing in the streets. What a great opportunity to get some cross-cultural experience! Actually, Hong Kong is a very multi-cultural city; besides the Muslim men I saw, there is another large group of women working as domestic helpers from the Philippines and Thailand. 

While people are still celebrating, I am content with the few days of holiday I’ve experienced. Such is the life of a missionary, living in this culture yet not totally of this culture.