Ushering in The New Year

In Chinese, the word "nian" means year, and the phrase "guo nian" literally means the “crossing of the year”. However, being a
language that is full of homophones and homonyms, and choked full in history, such a phrase has its origins in a legend that is as old as time and is the foundation for many of the practices that have become second nature during the celebration of the New Year.

The legend centres on a beast known as Nian, which was wont to wandering on the eve of the New Year. Nian effectively prevented people from venturing out lest they end up festering in the beast’s belly. The people were finally delivered from their long nightmare by an old man who, upon hearing of their plight, went forth to meet Nian. The old man - revealed as an  immortal - mounted the monster and rode away....

But not before leaving the villagers with some useful morsels of advice. First, he counselled them to decorate their homes extensively with the colour red as it is the colour that Nian feared. Next, he told them to set off loud noises in order to scare off the monster should it ever return. Thus marked the start of the tradition of using red extensively and setting off firecrackers and fireworks during Chinese New Year.