Kristen Finlayson

Come let us know how the Chinese display their creativity through art work and handicrafts to welcome the New Year.

The Chinese people for decades now have been using the lunar calendar. Out of all the important days, no other date or event is as famous or important as the Chinese New Year.

Just to make it obvious the Chinese New Year does not start on the first of January. Their New Year is dependent upon the cycles of the moon so it falls on a totally different date than the Gregorian solar calendar.

New Year is the time to have fun for the Chinese people. The mood is carefree throughout the season and lots of celebrations are visible on the streets of China. You will see a large number of exceptional craftsmanship which has been developed over the years among other Chinese customs and traditions.

Amongst the firecrackers and the fiestas are the Chinese New Year crafts that are created to add some color to the festivals. The wide range of New Year crafts makes a great display of the diversity and creativity that is present in the people of China.

The New Year has a variety of special events such as the fireworks demonstration, the giving of gifts and the lantern festival. Each of these days has its own range of Chinese crafts that represent the nature of the event. These crafts sell like hot cakes during the New Year season.

Since each Chinese New Year is designated an animal sign it is but natural to find the New Year crafts of that year to revolve around the animal of the year. This serves many different purposes in the Chinese community.

First and foremost, this is a way of keeping the ancient Chinese culture alive. Besides, there are a lot of artists and craftsmen who get a opportunity to expose their skill and also get a good market to make their works commercially viable and do a lot of business during the festival.

One of the major purposes that Chinese New Year crafts serve is that they make great gift items for those who are part of the culture. Not only do the crafts inspired by the animal of the year make a great new year's gift rather people often use these gifts to give to people who were born in the year of the same animal.

The New Year crafts are not just restrictedto the use of the animal of the year. Rather there is a wide range of crafts that are specially prepared for this time of the year. There is a very innovative and interesting collection of fireworks that is considered to be part of the New Year crafts.

Lantern crafts of different types are another special New Year variety. The Chinese are into the practice of fortune telling and various such crafts telling you about the fortune that is to come your way in the coming year can all be seen being sold in the market. There are a bundle of craft items especially catering to the kids as well during this time of the year.