THE CHINESE FESTIVAL.

Rodney and Otamatea Times, Waitemata and Kaipara Gazette, 15 May 1912, Page 7

THE CHINESE FESTIVAL.

The New Year's festival of the Chinese, said to be the most complete holiday season kept by any nation of the earth, is celebrated wherever a single Chinaman is found, whether in Pekin or New York. Beginning with the first new moon after the sun enters Aquarius, it is a movable festival, falling on any date between January 21st and February 19th. Preparations for the great holiday begin weeks beforehand. Home, shops, riverboats and temples are turned inside out for a thorough scrubbing, and the accumulated dirt of many months disappears as if by magic. Even the Chinaman himself passes through the cleaning process—the latter being a great event in the lives of a few, since it occurs but once a year!

On New Year's Eve a great battle with' evil spirits takes place, and the noise becomes deafening. In the hope of driving- out the devils already in the houses, and preventing a new horde from entering-, gongs are sounded and innumerable strings of fire-crackers are let off. It is said that no Chinaman ever, thinks of going to bed on New Year's Eve. Even the children sit up to "round the year," and at midnight all assemble to worship the gods. New Year's morning presents a strange contrast to the busy scenes of the night before. The shops are closed, and an almost Sabbathic stillness reigns.