This Chinese New Year’s Eve, as visions of lion dancers dance in your head, there’s no excuse for you to miss out on the festivities no matter where you find yourself. From food and cultural traditions to language learning and keeping in touch with friends near and far, we’ve got all your bases covered! So stop feeling sorry for yourself and download these apps so you can get your Chinese New Year party on!
Food: Virtually every holiday around the world involves coming together over food. Hours of preparing feasts are followed by hours of eating them. During Chinese New Year, food traditions span not only generations, but also dynasties. Some of the musteats include: longevity noodles, nian gao, and yuan bao dumplings. Waygo can help you navigate menus so that you can find, order, and eat these items. We are coming into Year of the Snake, and legend has it that having a snake in the home means that no one will go hungry.
Language: Observing a tradition up-close can be extremely eye-opening, but nothing beats actually participating in a tradition, a difficult feat without a shared language. Mandarin Madness teaches you specific vocabulary pertaining to Chinese New Year, as well as social situations in general. In no time you’ll be able to wish others a happy new year full of good fortune, or 新年快乐! And 恭喜发财! Mandarin Madness proves that language learning can be fun, not tedious like other more conventional learning methods.
Culture: You’ll need to know some background so that you can understand what is happening and why it’s happening. In other words, you always want to study before showing up for the test. China Daily is the largest English newspaper in China, and can serve as your bridge to understanding Chinese life. Not only does it contain the latest news events, but also plenty of cultural nuggets.
Staying in Touch: We’re all guilty of it. There’s just not enough time in our days (and months!) to keep in touch with all those we care about. Despite the chaos of the holiday season, we still prioritize getting back in touch with friends and family to let them know just how much they mean to us. With texting the most common form of communication these days, why not make it more thoughtful and memorable by sending a Cubie message instead? Cubie allows you to share drawings, photos, video, voice, and more. There are hundreds of additional animated stickers you can download (some paid,others gratis), and Cubie just released a free collection of Chinese New Years stickers!
Restful Sleep: POP POP POP! One reason to be happy about being away from China this New Year is the insane noise ringing all through the night. You’ve got a wide variety of sleeping-aid apps, from Relax Melodies to guided meditations with Relax & Sleep Well. Traditionally, firecrackers and fireworks served to scare away the feared Nian beast along with other haunting spirits. Today, the tumultuous tradition has resulted in some locales to set bans because of the disruption and danger that results.
Now that you’re ready, Happy New Year!