The Season of Love and Warmth

“We wish you a merry Christmas and a happy new year!”

Growing up in Canada, Christmas had always been my favorite holiday. It’s not just because I received tons of presents, but also because I got to spend time with my family. With the ones I love the most, I decorated the Christmas tree, made gingerbread men, had snowball fights, and sat in front of the fireplace, singing songs like “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer” and “Last Christmas”.

Winter is the best! I would often think. After all, it’s the Christmas season.

However, things started to change when I moved back to Taiwan in second grade.

Although many people in Taiwan do celebrate this holiday, there just isn’t as much Christmas spirit around. You don’t see Christmas lights everywhere, malls don’t play Christmas songs on repeat, and while there are a few Christmas trees in public spaces, they just seem bare in comparison to the ones in Canada. To make things worse, instead of having soft snow and tiny flakes falling from above, all you have is the bitter cold that makes you chilled to the bone the moment I step out of the house.

Looking on the bright side, I still get to spend the holiday with my family. But gosh! No words can possibly describe how disappointed I was when I spent my first Christmas here in Taiwan.

Despite my disappointment, time went on. Soon, it was January. However, contrary to what I expected, I was no longer feeling down because of the disappointment I felt during Christmas. And the reason was because a new holiday was coming up—Chinese New Year!

Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, is one of the most important celebrations for East and Southeast Asian cultures. It takes place around January and February and lasts for several days.

The origin of Chinese New Year can be traced back to the 14 th century BC, during the rule of the Shang Dynasty. At the time, the festival was held to celebrate the harvest and pay honour to the gods and ancestors. Today, Chinese New Year is meant to bring luck and prosperity for the new year.

I was so excited when I heard that my family would be celebrating Chinese New Year, for in the past, I was only able to learn about the festival through the cartoon “Ni Hao, Kai-Lan” and through the legends that my parents told me. But that year, I finally had the opportunity to celebrate the festival myself (though I must admit, as a second-grader, all I really cared about were the red envelopes filled with money to symbolize good luck).

The next week or so of the Chinese New Year celebration truly did not disappoint. With my grandparents and cousins and other family members, I visited temples, set off firecrackers, and played poke-a-present games and lottery scratch-offs. Every single day was a blast! Of course, I did receive the red envelopes that I was looking forward to so much. However, the highlight of Chinese New Year was, without a doubt, the New Year’s Eve dinner.

The New Year’s Eve dinner, also known as the reunion dinner, is often considered as one of the most important meals of the year. Just like Christmas dinner, everyone sits around the table, but instead of plates, forks, and knives, we have bowls and chopsticks, not to mention the variety of dishes! It’s just that instead of roast turkey, we have steamed fish along with other traditional Chinese dishes that symbolize wealth, good health, and good luck.

Looking at the others cheerfully chatting away while filling their bowls up to the top, I couldn’t help but remember the Christmas dinners that my family used to have in Canada.

Ah. It’s just the same.

Without doubt, there are a lot of differences between Christmas and Chinese New Year, whether it’s their origins, or food, or festive practices. However, these two celebrations may be a lot more similar than we think— they’re both a time when families reunite and spend their days together happily.

Even now, winter remains my favourite season. However, it’s no longer just because Christmas happens during this period, but because Christmas and Chinese New Year together make winter a season of love and warmth.