Spending Chinese New Year in the US

by Susan Palmes-Dennis

Like many Chinese living in the US, Wenjun Liu Whisenand missed celebrating New Year in her country of birth.

Wenjun, as she is called by friends ('we normally use the last name first to address people, she said), came from the northern part of China, specifically Shenyang Shi, Liaoning. 

She had lived in the US for more than two decades and I was surprised to learn that she is only celebrating the Chinese New Year now in 2019. 

When asked how she spent the Chinese lunar year, Wenjun admitted that she went to a friend's restaurant “the other night.” 

She said the traditional New Year in China means younger people will pay their respects to their elderly relatives by wishing them “happy New Year, good health and long life.”

In exchange, the kids normally receive money in red envelopes from parents and other relatives.

This tall Chinese lady with glowing chinita eyes said the Chinese will make dumplings and eat them at midnight as part of the celebration. New Year's eve is the busiest time of the year, Wenjun said.

“Everyone wants to go home. Airplanes or trains are busy, the trains are overloaded and people normally wait at the train station days ahead to buy tickets,” she said.

And it is not uncommon for a lot of Chinese being unable to buy their tickets for their trip back home to the mainland because they were sold out early. \

Still, to Wenjun and her fellow Chinese who made their home in the US, I greet all of them a Kung Hei Fat Choi.