We could all benefit from a little more luck in our lives. With the Lunar New Year approaching, now is the ideal opportunity to up the ante on good fortune.

1. Do a thorough house cleaning.

But not until after New Year’s Day. Cleaning on New Year’s Day is said to wash away good fortune. Clean to your heart’s satisfaction until then. This will clear your home of any huiqi, or bad breaths, that have accumulated over the year.

2. Decorate the halls.

After you’ve cleaned up and gotten rid of the dirt , dress it up with some good luck decor. It’s a no-brainer to use a fu sign. Because the term for upside down, dao, sounds like the word for “to arrive,” the character for luck is frequently put on doors upside down.

You could also want to explore some spring couplet banners, which are brief poems that frequently accompany good wishes. The poems are mostly about celebrating nature’s beauty or expressing “wishes for a happy and successful future.”

Flowers are also a must-have in every home. Orchids represent fertility and abundance, peach flowers represent prosperity and expansion, plum blossoms represent endurance and bravery, and peonies represent wealth and serenity.

3. Dress in red.

In Chinese tradition, red is a good luck colour in general, and you’ll see a lot of it during the New Year. It represents happiness, vitality, and long life, in addition to good fortune.

If you were born in the Year of the Ox, you should think about getting some red underwear. The Chinese zodiac year Benming nian falls on your birth animal, making you more vulnerable to bad luck than normal. As a result, I’m wearing my lucky red skivvies.

What makes you think you’re an ox? Simply count down in multiples of 12 from 2021.

4. Red envelopes should be given out (or received).

Red envelopes stuffed with crisp banknotes, known as lai see in Cantonese and hong bao in Mandarin, are a prominent element of Chinese New Year.

How much should I give? An even number, as even numbers are considered lucky whereas odd numbers are not. Avoid anything with the number “four,” as it is a homonym for “death” in Chinese.

It is unclear who will get them. In some parts of China, married people are said to gift them to single people. Only children, according to some, are the recipients. Others claim single adults only if they are jobless. If you do happen to obtain one, consider yourself lucky.

5. Eat food that brings you luck.

What better way to increase your good fortune than to eat it? Many excellent foods are considered lucky due to their names, appearances, or natural characteristics. The Chinese word yu, which means “plenty,” also sounds like “fish.” Orange sounds like “money,” whereas tangerine sounds like “luck.”

Long noodles represent longevity, while dumplings are shaped like gold or silver ingots, an ancient Chinese measure of currency. Seeds are a symbol of fertility. Sweets indicate a sweet year ahead.

We’ll go further into the meaning of auspicious Chinese New Year dishes. Keep an eye — and a stomach — out for the next instalment.

Now for some do’s and don’ts for the New Year.

6. Avoid eating unlucky foods.

Porridge at breakfast, namely, because it is a sign of poverty. It’s unclear if this refers to oatmeal or savoury rice gruel. If you want to be safe, toast is a good choice.

7. Do not wash your hair.

Don’t even think about washing your hair. The Chinese word for “hair,” fa, is also used in the phrase fa cai, which means “to grow affluent.” If you shampoo on New Year’s Day, you’ll be washing all of your good luck out of your hair.

8. Avoiding sweeping.

Sweeping the floor means sweeping away potential wealth. Also, don’t take out the trash. You’ll simply be sprinkling good fortune.

9. Do not use scissors.

Of course, you should never do so, but a New Year’s Day accident involving a sharp object is thought to bring bad luck for the rest of the year.

10. Don’t say anything that will bring bad luck.

Death, dying, ghost, or the lethal number four are just a few examples.

11. Do not weep.

On New Year’s Day, there is no crying. Tears shed on the first day of the spring festival are tears shed throughout the entire year.

12. Unlucky presents should be avoided.

Have you been invited to a New Year’s Eve dinner? Great! However, avoid bringing:

• Objects that are sharp. That Ginsu knife set is a thing of the past. Cutting ties is implied by sharp things.
• Handkerchiefs. Because they’re usually given out at funerals, they’re another indication of “goodbye forever.”
• Anything with the number four in it. Did we mention that the number four sounds like “death”?
• Shoes. The word “shoes” (xie) is a homophone for the word “evil.” What’s more, what an odd present.
• Clocks. “Give a clock” has a similar ring to “attend a funeral rite.” Clocks also serve as a constant reminder that we’re all running out of time, something no one wants.
• Oranges, uncut flowers, or the tried-and-true hong bao are all better options.