Phukets resident Chinese community, just like their counterparts in other parts of Thailand, celebrate the Chinese New Year with great joy and enthusiasm. A time of fun, excitement, religious rituals and feasting, this much anticipated festival continues for a number of days.
The festivities in Phuket Island are focused on Phuket Town, which is where the Chinese community is based. For the New Year period the local roads are closed to vehicles. People congregate in this area to watch the numerous parades and processions, enjoy cultural and historical features, watch theatrical presentations and listen to the sounds of the innumerable firecrackers. Highlights include Chinese opera, folk dancing and kung fu displays. During the period religious ceremonies are conducted in the temples of Phuket.
During the time of festivities, the colour red features prominently, as according to legend a fearsome monster who terrorized the populace was driven away by this colour. Many customs are observed in homes, including the cleaning of homes and family altars prior to the celebrations; homes are also adorned with red coloured paper. Rituals are performed to ensure that the actions performed by family members in the past year are favourably reported in the other world.
New clothing is purchased for all the family members and on New Years eve, families customarily enjoy a feast typically featuring duck, pig, chicken or fish. On the stroke of midnight on the first night of the New Year, all windows and doors of the house are opened so that the old year may depart. It is thought that the deities of the heavens must be welcomed to participate in the New Year.
Visiting relatives is a vital part of the festivities, with younger relatives visiting the home of the most senior members in the extended family. Young people are given money in red packets. Visitors to family homes are welcomed with platters of tangerines and oranges as well as dried fruit. Friends also visit one another and exchange gifts, typically of various foods.
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