Gong Xi Fa Ca! in the Year of the Snake
In Canada it is traditionally written as Gung Hay Fat Choy, which means “Best wishes and Congratulations. Have a prosperous and good year.”
Sunday February 10, 2013 is the New Year according to the Chinese calendar, so tonight is New Year’s Eve.
If your not Chinese, why not go out, or order delivery from your favorite Chinese Restaurant, and celebrate with over 1.3 billion people.
All pictures were shot by myself in Chinatown area of Vancouver, Canada, during the 2012 Chinese New Year Celebration. I am going out for dinner with friends tonight to celebrate.
Reblogged this on Edgledge's Ramblings and commented:
Xing nian kuay le for all my family and friends who celebrate Chinese new year.
恭喜发财：When people say this expression in Mandarin, the 4 characters are read as gōngxǐ fācái. When the same characters are pronounced in Cantonese, they become Gung Hay Fat Choy.
Literally, 恭喜发财 means the following: 恭喜 means congratulations; 发财 means to make/produce money.
The whole expression basically means Wishing you wealth. Getting rich or being prosperous is very important to the Chinese people, so you’ll hear the expression often.
However, if you want to greet Chinese people, who may find money a bit too vulgar, or who may be a bit cultured, religious or not too bothered by wealth, you could say Happy New Year instead. The expression is: 新年好 xīnnián hǎo （new year + good) or 新年快乐 xīnnián kuàilè （new year + happy). Both of these are in Mandarin.
p/s: the ‘x’ sound in Mandarin is pronounced a bit like a ‘hs’ sound in English.
I decided to use the Canadianized version, as Chinese adapts in each country, to use common linguistic sounds for locals.
As the Chinese side of my family tree is from Guangzhou, Guangdong, China, and HK, Cantonese was common growing up. Thanks for the link to the video, and Happy New Year
Happy New Year, Keith.
Happy Chinese New Year Keith and thank you for following my blog! Cheers, Sky xxo
Love those images – especially that pink of the fans.