Be prepared - For Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is celebrated in China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, Chinese communities in Asia, and Chinatowns in the UK, USA and Europe.  2024 is the year of the Dragon.

If you are thinking of travelling early in the new year, note that flights into and out of Asia and worldwide could be booked up during Chinese New Year, which is for a week from Fab 10th, but flights will be busy and higher priced a week before and a week after.

 Features of Chinese New Year

The year of  -12 animals, which symbolize different qualities to those in the west.

Lion dance.

Colourful and noisy. Lion dance societies practise all year. You pay them to perform at a shopping centre, mall, hotel, city or country club, restaurant. 

They throw out vegetables and chocolates and candies and small gifts for children and adults.

The host family or VIP children should sit in the front row of spectators to catch the gifts. If the host receives too many thrown free gifts, he or she can then distribute the duplicates to those who missed out or to smaller or handicapped children or babes in arms.

Mandarin Oranges

You give two. To visitors to shops.

Red Packets

Containing money. Lucky number is 8. (Unlucky number is four which rhymes with death.)  Married people give the red packets to children and the unmarried.

Family get togethers, reunions of families who travel worldwide.

Singapore - Lo Hei

Vegetables and fish piled in the centre of a round plate. Maybe served in the middle of a circular table, on a lazy Susan to give access to all diners. The central food, is decorated, encircled, with smaller circular piles of vegetables whose colours represent different qualities. 

Supermarket Sets

You can buy sets in the supermarkets. The different sizes are for different numbers of diners, such as two person, four, eight, ten, twenty. Without fish is less expensive. You add your own fish of choice in the middle, such as fresh salmon or smoked salmon. Different prices reflect whether a disposable or better platter or bowl is provided in the set. Another cost factor is for one or several sets of chopsticks.   

Look for the greatest variety at the start of the season. You might find prices go up or down. 

Photo Opportunities

Lion dancers perform in pubic places. ou can ask to be photographed with them.

Feb 10 2024. Year of the Dragon.

Booking flights in February? Prices will go up and seats will be booked.

Checklist

1 Book flights

2 Book Hotels

3 Book restaurant for reunion dinner

4 Collect red packets for gifts of money to unmarried relatives and get new bank notes to put in the red packets.

5 In Asia instead of a Christmas bonus or gift staff expect a Chinese New Year gift of money to put towards the family festivities.

6 Stock up with mandarin oranges to give as gifts, exchanging pairs of oranges with people entering a shop or house on New Year's day

7 Prepare by baking or buying seasonal fruit tarts with lucky symbols such as pineapple tarts.

8 Plan outings to Chinatowns to see decorations and night markets.

Weddings Worldwide - Reviewed after a Singapore Muslim Malay style wedding reception

Angela dressed as a guest for a Malay Muslim wedding in Singapore. Photo by Sharot family.

For a Malay wedding I wore an outfit which covered my arms to below the elbow, and covered my legs.

Weddings worldwide differ. I should know. I have written several books on the subject and been to Christian ,Jewish and Muslim weddings, English, French, Italian, Chinese and Malay-Singaporean style weddings. I have also conducted a mock wedding ceremony when the officiant was late and the bride wanted sunset photos in the Botanical Gardens bandstand.

My latest venture was to the wedding of a good friend in Singapore. It was a Malay style Singaporean venue. What made it different from, for example, a Chinese wedding or an English wedding?

An English wedding usually has a maid of honour or matron of honour  (the latter a married woman) and/or a couple of bridesmaids who are best friends or sisters. An American wedding can have a dozen bridesmaids, perhaps classmates of a college student.

A UK wedding might have ushers, males in co-ordinating colours showing people to seats.

In Singapore the wedding took place in a wedding hall on the upper floor of a skyscraper shopping mall. confusingly the car parks were on the third level. The wedding venue was on the 2nd or third.

A man wearing what looked like a traditional Sikh outfit, a colourful trouser suit with braid and headgear was in the street outside. When we stopped to look at the directions and try to work out the entrance to the building, he stepped forward to help us. I thought he was a polite bystander. However, he followed us into the building, and confirmed the level when we reached the escalator. So I presumed he had been parked outside by the organizers of the wedding or the venue.

We had been wondering how to present our gift of money. (In the UK you don't give money. You have a wedding list in a department store, nowadays maybe two, or online.)

At a previous wedding which was Chinese, the welcome table outside the hall ticked off our names, counted out the money, and gave us a receipt. Like an accountant. that way no money could drop out or go missing between the donar and the couple. 

At the Muslim wedding reception, the venue had a welcome desk inside the room, before a flowered arch. the table had a large box like the one for Xmas cards at house parties or Writers Circle Club parties in the UK. 

Card Sizes

I had been embarrassed that my greeting card was so small. At Christmas parties and weddings and birthdays in restaurants in the UK, visitors present cards up to A4 size. Mine was A5 size. At the last minute I had found  in my emergency greeting card box, several greetings cards and chosen one. (Rejecting the cards which said Happy Christmas, happy birthday and Condolences!)

I decorated it with gold glue glitter to make it more festive. 

St the venue I slipped it into the box and was presented with a thank you going home gift which was a small jar of teeny chocolate biscuits in a silver glitter cube shaped box.

To my surprise, my husband later assured me that my cards was large enough. He said my card was distinctive -larger than the others. The other envelopes were all the size of red packets given at Chinese New Year. 

Red Packets

Chinese New Year follows Christmas in the tourist calendar, being in January or February. Red packets used to be given away to bank customers. Now that banks are online, red packets are shown on websites and you can make donations through the web.  

The shape is elongated. They come in two sizes, mostly, like a half width of an A6 pocket diary.   

The food was laid out buffet style, 

Seating

The tables were round and there was free seating. I thought that worked well. You could choose to sit with family and friends, sit at the front to take photos, sit at the back keeping noisy children out of sight, mix with new people.

The End

The buffet was cleared away. We waved goodbye.

Layout and Dais

the central hall was a path leading up to the dais where the happy couple sat surrounded by flowers, to greet you. An mc alongside the couple had a microphone to call out who was approaching, and then hand you the microphone to give out an announced good wish.

(He was aided by a young lady a few feet in front who asked your name and how you were related to the couple. My husband and I later speculated on how she conveyed the message to the couple.

Orange trees and discussions on red packets containing gifts of money for Chinese New Year

Orange tree at the entrance to the ground floor restaurant at  Sheraton Towers Hotel, near Newton MRT station, Singapore.

I chose red packets as my theme when I was topics master at a Toastmasters International speakers club, Eminent. I forwarded on WhatsApp on my mobile phone several pictures of red packets so that the President could display them. That way and I did not have to travel carrying a heavy laptop or even a thumb drive.

Red packet for Chinese New Year with illustrations of oranges.

The first red packets I chose to display showed red packets with pictures of oranges.

In addition to red packets, people give oranges, at least two, or trees with orange fruit and red ribbons.

I asked everybody: 'What do you know about Chinese New Year And Red Packets? Is there anybody Chinese in the audience?'


Chinese flag

Red Packets And Chinese Families
My friend Mrs Lim immediately volunteered herself. She told us:


Singapore Flag

'Like in China, in Singapore red packets, for Chinese New Year, as well as other festivals, are traditionally given by the married and well-paid, employed elders to their younger children and nephews and nieces, children, friends' children, and younger relatives who are not married and not yet earning money. Some families give red packets to those who are earning a living and not yet married.  And low-paid employees. We used to do this.

'Children are very excited to receive red packets. But our youngsters are well-paid and don't need the money. So we told them, we won't give you any money and we don't expect any from you. We will just give you our good wishes. And our time.

'Everybody was happy with that. But that's just our family, and how we celebrate Chinese New Year, with a get together.'

Oranges and Orange Blossoms
In Singapore my family has on the living room balcony a small 'orange tree' (identified by a local garden centre as a miniature lime tree). Just in time for Chinese New Year 2020, the oranges, I mean limes, started turning orange, and a small white flower came out. We have made orange-lime marmalade. I water and watch our tree daily, and encourage the rest of the family to take turns. Could I rely on my family and the neighbours and visitors to keep the orange tree alive when I am not there. We had one which died in early 2019. This one is thriving - under my constant care. But I worry about whether it will survive when I am away in England. On the screen at the meeting I had red packets showing oranges.

I asked the members of Toastmasters International who were at the meeting, 'What can you tell us about oranges or orange trees and why do you and other people like them?'

'The answer from S... was:
'Flowering trees are beautiful. I was in Melbourne, Australia, in spring and they had flowering trees given by the Japanese people. Wonderful. A carpet of flower petals. A cloud of flowers. A sea of colours. It makes your heart sing. It makes you happy. Orange trees have the same effect. The fruit and the flowers. Spring time, colour and fruit and growing, a time of hope.'

My other questions were about the designs of different red packets:


Red packet for Chinese New Year with fish design.

I asked:
'Who would like a red packet with the design of fish and water?'

Fish and water
Fish is the sign of Pisces, meaning fish, in the Western zodiac. The speaker said:
You see fish a lot in Singapore outside big buildings such as shopping centres, malls, blocks of flats and offices. Fish are thought to be soothing. They bring good luck. Watching fish is very restful.'

A heckler shouted, 'Eating fish is even better!'
'What if you are vegetarian? What would a fish say to that?'
 'Fish would agree with me. Fish like eating fish, too.'

Children And Gifts
I said: 'Children receive red packets with joy. Why would you like a red packet with a picture of children?'
The respondent, P, said: 'I don't have children. Where children are concerned, I have my boundaries.  But I like entertaining my nephews and nieces. They like my visits. So long as there's a finite time.'
Hecklers shouted various time limits, such as:
'Two hours.'
'Two minutes.'

The speaker continued, 'What I like about children is their enthusiasm. And their honesty. They tell the truth. If they don't like something they tell you. If they like something, they show it.'

Useful Websites

singaporeair.com

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Singapore

About the Author
Angela Lansbury is British and a Singapore Permanent Resident. She is a travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Please share links to your favourite posts.
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/collect-red-packets-for-chinese-new-year.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/more-orange-trees-and-discussions-on.html
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/what-is-inside-chinese-red-packets.html

What Is Inside Chinese Red Packets?

Red packets. Singapore. 2020. Photo by Angela Lansbury.


Did you think it was always paper note money? I did. People queue up (Americans say line up) to get crisp new note money to go inside red packets.

But not always note money. I was wrong.

Red packets can contain other symbolic lucky gifts. For example rice, symbolic of plentiful food.

Or small coins, symbolic of wealth. this works well for children. so long as the coins are not five to tots under three years old who might swallow the money.

Ideally, however, coins should be gold (or chocolates covered in gold foil) symbolising money.

How do you know what is inside a sealed red packet? Feel it. Feel the shape and weight.

You are not supposed to open it in the presence of the giver.

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. I have several posts on Singapore and other destinations.
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/collect-red-packets-for-chinese-new-year.html
Please share links to your favourite posts.

Collect Red Packets For Chinese New Year

Red packets featuring fans, from banks, DBS on the left, OCBC on the right.



The red packet on the left is embellished by two round, raised half beads.
The fish design on the right is from Singapore Airlines.



OCBC Bank used a family on bicycles.  On the right is the OCBC design featuring a butterfly and flowering blossoms on trees.

Red Packets for whom?
These packets are for gifts of money, ideally in multiples of lucky eight, given by married parents and grandparents and other relatives to their unmarried family. Apparently often accompanied by the enquiry, when are you getting married?' Also for gifts of crisp new note money to children, and valued customers.

Red Packets To Buy Or Be Given
Also look out for red packets from retailers such as fast food outlets and malls, offering discounts, or free red packets you can use to present gifts to others. Your gifts could be money or vouchers.

Re-Using Red Packets
Red packets can be used to enclose other items, for Chinese speakers and others.Since red packets are most often used to give money, or other gift, it would be as well to avoid disappointing people by explaining that using are using the packet for other purposes, such as concealing a surprise question, or simply because they are pretty, and you can keep the red packet to re-use.

I am keeping my red packets for talking about China and Singapore and Asia when I am in England.

I also think they would make a very attractive collage.

Oranges on red packets. Photo by Angela Lansbury.

Useful Websites

singaporeair.com

https://en.wikivoyage.org/wiki/Singapore

About the Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer. See previous post on oranges for Chinese New Year.

Please share this link
https://travelwithangelalansbury.blogspot.com/2020/01/collect-red-packets-for-chinese-new-year.html

Chinese New Year, What to Eat, Where to Go, What to Know, Where to Avoid

Problems
Chinese New Year, so much to see and do? What can you eat, say and do?

Answers
1 Red packets.
2 Pineapple tarts.
3 Chinese New Year Cards or emails.
4 New Year holiday flights and queues.
5 Zodiac Signs.
6 Year of the Rooster.
7 New year weekends and traffic jams.
8 Visits to families.
9 Lo Hei
10 Bak wah.
11 First across the threshold in shops.
12 Pairs of oranges.
13 Toastmasters Table Topics (impromptu speeches).
14 Q and A/ FAQ: What are you doing for CNY?
15 Lion dances.
16 Check club and business meeting changes.
17 UK Tax returns end of January.
18 Learn how to say or reciprocate when wished 'Happy new year, and to recognise the sign on banners in hotels, shopping, malls:
Gong Chi Fa Choy. (Roughly gong she far, choy) depending on whether the well wishers are speakers of Mandarin, Cantonese or H o c k i e n or another dialect.

Details
1 Red packets.
You get red envelopes free from banks, fast food outlets and shops, or you can buy them from stationers. Unmarried relatives are given money (ideally in lucky numbers such as 8 or multiples of eights, not four which is unlucky because it sounds like death). The Mandarin name for these gifts is h o n g b a o. (I have inserted spaces to prevent autocorrect changing the word.)

2 Pineapple tarts.
You can buy these in see through squat jars with screw top bright red lucky colour lids.

3 Chinese New Year Cards or emails.
Find sets in newsagents, like all cards, cheaper the day after.

4 New Year holiday flights and queues.
Book early. Flights are likely to be full over the New Year as people fly home to China, Taiwan, Singapore, or from China, Taiwan and Singapore to their birthplace. Also employees given a long weekend off, even if not celebrating Chinese New Year, will be taking flights.

5 Zodiac Signs:
Rat, tiger, dragon, horse, ox, rabbit, snake, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, pig.

6 Year of the Rooster.
See red roosters in advertisements and on banners.

7 New year weekends and traffic jams.

8 Visits to families.
Some friends and colleagues will be busy visiting their families.

9 Lo Hei.
Delicious mix of vegetables in rainbow colours, often with smoked salmon added for protein. Watch out that nobody adds shellfish later if you are allergic - get your portion before the shellfish is added.

10 Bak wah.
Preserved pork. Delightful favour, I am told, with sweet as well as savoury. Long queues for customers.

11 First across the threshold in shops.
You might get a bargain if you go into shops early in the day.

12 Pairs of oranges.
Shopkeepers and friends are likely to give you a pair of oranges. Surprisingly they don't have to be new and gorgeous but could be old and tired looking fruit. You return the compliment a few hours or days later.

13 Toastmasters Table Topics (impromptu speeches).
At a Toastmasters Club meeting before Chinese New Year the Toastmaster of the Evening is likely to open a meeting by going clockwise around the room asking each person to say their name, where they are from, and how they will be celebrating Chinese New Year.

14 Q and A/ FAQ:
Anybody from an acquaintance to a lose friend is likely to ask: What are you doing for CNY?

15 Lion dances.
Noisy. Hard to take photos because they jump about so ask them to stand still for a photo after the lion dance. You will see trucks carrying groups of men and the costume, making a noise in the street. Performances may take places outside or inside restaurants and shopping malls.

16 CNY celebrations and cancellations.
Check club and business meeting changes.

17 UK Tax returns end of January.
Many UK people, pensioners (retirees), accountants and business owners will be too busy to do anything except finalise their tax returns.

Stories
An American lady went to a lo hei and her designer top was splashed. She was very upset and claimed compensation.
Possible remedies:
1 Warn guests to wear washable clothes.
2 Warn guests with vulnerable clothes to stand away.
3 Issue plastic aprons with advertising goodwill messages.

Tips
Advise visitors.
Wear washable clothes.
Wear a washable scarf to cover clothes.
Carry tissues or wet wipes.
Know your Chinese birth sign.

Author
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Chinese New Year Decorations And Customs

Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright 2017.

This photo was taken in Toa Payoh at ground level above the MRT railway station.

A quick guide to what to see and do in Singapore for Chinese New Year.

1 Decorations all over Singapore, especially in shopping malls, hotels, restaurants, community centres, office building lobbies, and entrances to apartment blocks.
2 Red packets in which you place money for unmarried relatives, or discount coupons for customers.Ideally use multiples of eight which is a lucky number.
3 Lo Hei dinners in restaurants and clubs. I thought Lo Hei was invented in Singapore but a girl from Hong Kong claimed it was a Hong Kong custom.
4 Oranges, pairs of oranges, are given to friends, family, customers, and passed from one person to another.
5 Expert airports to be busy, flights fully booked, long queues and high prices during the festive season.
6 Reunion dinners for families on the first day of the Chinese New Year, friends or more distant family members on day two.
7 At Toastmasters International speakers' clubs (of which there are about 250) visitors are asked to say their name and what they like to do for Chinese New Year.
8 The traditional greeting is displayed everywhere :
恭喜发财 (gōng xǐ fā cái) Wish you wealth and prosperity.

Chinese New Year changes with the calendar. In 2017 it starts Saturday January 28th.

Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author and speaker.

Chinese New Year Meals, Flights, Lion Dances, Lanterns, Orange and Oranges

Whilst Christmas is over, the snow has been falling in the UK and USA, but it's warm in Singapore, where the city is preparing for the warmth and jollity of Chinese New Year.

The red lights and lanterns are already out for Chinese New Year in some places, like Christmas, commercial organizations are advertising their festive meals.

If you are planning a change of flight plan in the week starting Feb 6th and 7th you had better get on the waiting list now. Expect delays at airports, check ins, because of the increased numbers of travellers going home for the annual family get together.

If you are first though the door of a shop on the first day of Chinese New Year you might get given two oranges or a discount (which may or may not continue all day). You might need to have two 'oranges' - not oranges but the easy peel variety which you can buy in bulk. You might even be given rather sad looking oranges. You simply pass them on at the next opportunity.

Red packets are offered free by many organisations such as banks, because the Chinese like to give money to unmarried young relatives. Not only banks, who will benefit from transactions if you take out or pay in money, but fast food outlets might also give you a free red packet, sometimes with a discount voucher inside or printed on the cover, or at very least a good will message with their company logo.

If you like the bright jolly colours of orange and red you will enjoy the Chinese New Year decorations. A great time to visit any area with a Chinese community.

Lion Dances
You might also hear groups practising the music for the lion dances.

When the time comes, you will see parades or trucks carrying groups to and from the venues where they will perform lion dances. Large restaurants, department stores, malls, all sorts of venues have lion dances.

I find them rather noisy, but if you are Chinese or like spectacles and noise you will enjoy them. Certainly mesmerising to watch.

Where can you see Chinese New Year celebrations?

Singapore Restaurants & Events
In Singapore a special local dish is served, a colourful communal dish of mixed noodles and usually fish and vegetables. Diners stand around raising the food in the air with their chopsticks. Expect to be offered this (more expensive) dish at many restaurants. Wear washable clothes! Singapore newspapers will run articles on the origin of the dish, which restaurant or hotel claims to have originated it. Lo Hei. Learn the greeting you shout.

Look in supermarkets for Chinese New Year specials, foods, gifts, wrapping, cards. Send a Chinese New Year card to your Chinese business associates or friends and family. Practice the New year greeting which will have a local version, usually either Mandarin or Cantonese, only four syllables, and you will see it on banners everywhere. Gong Shi Fa Choy or something similar. Learn both versions so you can echo it appropriately.

If you visit friends who are local or expats, the public housing estates  and private housing condominiums are likely to have strings of red lanterns and red lights which they store and bring out every year.

If somebody tells you they are away or can't see you because of CNY, that means Chinese New Year. Watch out for signs: not valid PH; PH means Public Holiday.

Ice Skating performances
The most unusual advertisement I have seen is for pre Chinese New Year ice skating.
See the website. www.therink.sg
On Saturday 13 Feb they are offering acrobatic lion dance performance and balloon sculptured lion dance costume 1-4 pm Cube level 1; Snowfall, acrobatic lion dance performances and photo opportunity with balloon sculptured lion 5.15-7.15, The Rink, Cube level 3.

A pre-Valentine's Day Disco on ice on 12 and 13 Feb 2016.

Skating Costs
What will it cost? You can buy tickets online from www.therink.sg or at their self-ticketing kiosk.
2 hour admission adult $14, child $12; skate boots rental $3.50 skating aid rental $10/15 per 2 hours.
Party package is $35 per person including 2-hour admission with skate boots rental, 30 min dedicated party host on ice and 2-hr usage of party room.

Bumper Car On Ice
Another skating idea: Bumper car on ice: every Saturday 5.15-10.15, $8 per 10 minute ride Sate and Bump $4 per 10 minute rides, this excludes admission and skate boots rental. You can also get student passes for three months from date of purchase (from age 6 to 22, costing $100 for age 6-17 and $135 for age 18-22) but you must show a Student pass or IC (identity card) - I am not sure if this is only for locals or also for visitors.

You can't skate? Learn-to-skate weekly classes are available, at $171.20 per participant.
See www.therink.sg for the latest on public skating sessions.
Cube, 2 Jurong East
Central 1
Singapore 609731
tel:6684 2153
www.jcube.sg  That should be j c u b e without spaces. Spell auto correct wants to drop the j and change it to cub or cut.
www.javenue.sg

Where To Go
China
Hong Kong
Singapore - major malls and Chinatown (easily reached via the MRT or mass transit railway line).
Taiwan
Malaysia - Malaysian Chinese shopping areas and restaurants.
UK Chinatown in London, England, as well as Manchester and other cities. Look for Chinese restaurants and advertisements in local newspapers. Almost every major high street has a Chinese restaurant and they can tell you the nearest place to see celebrations.
USA Chinatowns in New York, San Francisco and other major cities.
Canada: Chinatown areas of Vancouver and other cities.

(Pictures being added shortly.)
Angela Lansbury, travel writer and photographer, author, speaker.

Chinese New Year 2015 Feb 19 - preparations, planning your flights, hotels and dinners

Book your flights and hotels and dinners early for Chinese New Year when everybody is out celebrating.

Chinese New Year is celebrated in:
China
Hong Kong
Taiwan
Singapore, major shopping malls, hotels, supermarkets and streets especially Chinatown

Picture from Wikipedia. See picture credit and more pictures in Wikipedia under Chinese New Year.

Chinatown, London, England
Chinatown, Manchester, England
Chinatown, New York, NY USA
Chinatown, Vancouver, Canada
Many Chinese restaurants on high streets throughout the UK

Singapore's Traditional Dinner
Wikipedia explains it like this:

Yusheng, yee sang or yuu sahng (Chinese: 鱼生; pinyin: yúshēng; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: hî-seⁿ or hû-siⁿ), or Prosperity Toss, also known as lo hei(Cantonese for 撈起 or 捞起) is a Teochew-style raw fish salad. It usually consists of strips of raw fish (most commonly salmon), mixed with shredded vegetables and a variety of sauces and condiments, among other ingredients. Yusheng literally means "raw fish" but since "fish (鱼)" is commonly conflated with its homophone "abundance (余)", Yúshēng (鱼生) is interpreted as a homophone for Yúshēng (余升) meaning an increase in abundance. Therefore, yusheng is considered a symbol of abundance, prosperity and vigor.

While versions of it are thought to have existed in China, the contemporary version is created and popularised^{[citation needed]} in the 1960s amongst the ethnic Chinese community and its consumption has been associated with Chinese New Year festivities in Malaysia, Indonesiaand Singapore.

At a family or meal or a table at a Toastmasters' Club  dinner, at a round or square or oblong table, everybody stands around the dish holding their chopsticks in it and on the agreed shout you all pick up food and toss it in the air above the plate.
 In advance practise using chopsticks and tossing noodles. On the night of any club visit or dinner, wear washable clothes or a scarf.


Expect Chinese banquets, Chinese wines, lion dances, flower displays.
In Singapore stock up with oranges for family, friends, colleagues, customers to shops.

Stock up with red packets for presenting gifts of clean banknotes to the young and unmarried. Some banks and restaurants will give you free red packets containing a discount voucher and/or goodwill message from that organisation.

Stock up with Chinese new year cards and postage stamps. Find Chinese New Year borders, signatures to add to your emails.

Chinese Toastmasters International Speakers' Club Dinners
Chinese Toastmasters International Speakers clubs will often have a Chinese New Year dinner. Prepare for a change of venue for club meetings. The meeting might be cancelled because the usual venue such as a hotel is booked for events, or because club members are away on holiday. But often a club dinner is arranged on a meeting night, or at a different venue on another occasion. Prepare your Chinese New Year stories for table topics (impromptu speeches). The lucky colour is red.
Stock up on small gifts so that you can reciprocate.

Flights
Some airports will have long queues because of large numbers of travellers.

Photos
When travelling take your camera or videocamera or smart phone to photograph New Year events.

New Year Greeting
Finally, learn to say Happy New Year in Mandarin, or Cantonese or another language according to your destination.

Useful websites
http://factsanddetails.com/china/cat4/sub17/item120.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wishing_You_Happiness_and_Prosperity