During Chinese Lunar New Year, everyone wants to do some lucky things to obtain good fortune for the new year. Having some lucky Chinese New Year foods is an easy way for you, no matter for some Chinese dishes, snacks or fruits.
Speaking of Chinese New Year lucky fruits, you can either share with your families, or give your friends as Chinese New Year gifts. Here we have to mention the 7 lucky fruits for Chinese New Year, pick what you like and celebrate Chinese New Year in your own way.
In China, oranges, kumquats and tangerines are always on the shopping list for Chinese New Year. Chinese people love golden color so much, they believe that these fruits will bring them happiness, prosperity and good luck in making money.
And for the round shape, it’s an auspicious symbol of togetherness and harmony. Some Chinese people will buy a pot of kumquat tree and place it at home, by this way, good fortune will come around the house.
Kumquats
No matter for the shape, color or meaning, pomelos will be one of the most important type of lucky fruits for Chinese New Year. As the ripening season of pomelos is around Mid-Autumn Festival in China, Chinese people think that pomelos symbolize family reunion.
In Chinese, the word “柚” sounds the same to the word “佑”, which is “protect” in English. Thus, Chinese people eat pomelos during Chinese Lunar New Year and hope everything will go well in the new year.
Pomelos
In Chinese, “苹” and “平” are homophones, “平” means safe and peace. Chinese people believe that one can live a peaceful and harmonious life by eating apples. They also like to buy a box of apples as Chinese New Year gift for their relatives and friends, for the best wishes of good luck and wealth for the next year.
Apples are Popular in Every Family
Actually, young people in China also give each other red apples on Christmas Eve, due to the same pronunciation of “ping”.
As grapes usually come in bunches, it’s a good symbol of abundance and harvest. It means good luck will always accompany you. Besides, no matter purple or green ones you choose, the meanings are great, purple for respect and elegance while green for vitality and prosperity.
Pineapples stand for wealth and good luck. Some Chinese people also use pineapples for cooking. When it’s Chinese Lunar New Year, it’s a good idea to buy two pineapples and place at home, especially in areas around Fujian Province. In Hokkien(Fujian Dialect), the word “pineapple” is “ong lai”, it means good fortune will come.
Just like what we mentioned about grapes, pomegranates represent fertility, longevity and prosperity. When you open one pomegranate, you’ll see the jeweled kernels inside its vermillion skin, it’s an auspicious fruit for Chinese Lunar New Year.
As there are lots of kernels inside a pomegranate, it has good blessings of having more sons and grandsons. In addition, it is also a symbol of good fortune, for the bright color.
Pomegranates
Sugarcanes are popular Chinese New Year lucky fruits in southern regions in China. With the similar appearance like bamboo, sugarcane has stout and jointed stalks, which symbolize promotion in one’s career, and improvement of life.
Here we have to mention the Chinese idiom ——“Jiejie gaosheng”, which shows a rising trend in a positive way. It’s good wishes for students to make progress for study, for employees to have improvement for work, for all the people to live a better life.
Sugarcanes
You can either buy some lucky fruits for Chinese New Year for the best blessings of the new year, or you can give your friends as Chinese New Year gifts. Wish you good luck in the new year. If you’re interested in traditional Chinese culture, don’t hesitate to plan a trip to China. See our sample tours below:
Celebrate Lunar New Year in China