The origin of Chinese New Year backdates to centuries old and gains significance because of several myths and traditions. Chinese New Year marks the end of the winter season and it is celebrated in countries and territories with significant Chinese populations. The festival begins on the first day of the first month in the traditional Chinese calendar and ends with Chap Goh Mei which is on the 15th day of the first month.
Families will pour out their money to buy presents, decoration, material, food, and clothing. It is also a tradition that every family thoroughly cleans the house. It is believed the cleaning sweeps away the bad luck of the preceding year and makes their homes ready for good luck...welcoming for a better new year. Homes are often decorated with paper cut-outs of Chinese auspicious phrases and couplets. Windows and doors will be decorated with red colour paper-cuts with popular themes of "good fortune", "happiness", "wealth", and "longevity". People will also put up other red decorations such as the word "Fu" (luck) on the wall or the main door. Some may like to place it upside down, reason being..."upside down" in Chinese shares the same sound with "arriving". So it in a way, signifies the arriving of a lucky year.
Purchasing new clothing, shoes and receiving a hair-cut also symbolize a fresh start and many households where Buddhism or Taoism is prevalent, home altars and statues are cleaned thoroughly, and altars that were adorned with decorations from the previous year are taken down and burned a week before the new year starts, to be replaced with new decorations.
