Chinese New Year Wall Decoration

This year Chinese New Year falls on 31 January 2014 and is the Horse year.  There is a 12 year cycle and and each year has a different animal to represent them.  In a later post, I will blog more about the background.It traditionally starts on the first day of the lunar month and continues until the fifteenth.  The lunar calendar is based off the cycles of the moon, so that's why the date of the Chinese New Year varies from year to year of the Gregorian calendar.Today, I would like to show you how I decorated our house with the decorations that my mom sent me. Some of these photos were taken by my sister from a shop in Singapore.  It is very important for Chinese families to decorate their house to fill their house with plenty of good wishes e.g. years of brimful happiness, good health, wealth, prosperity etc.  It is equivalent to how English people decorate their houses with Christmas decorations and ornaments with wreaths, candles, mistletoe etcI placed the couplets on the door and wall to hope that this coming year it will bring us a wealth of fortune and happiness!These are the examples you can get in a supermarket in Singapore.  There are so many choices to choose from and you can find them selling everywhere in the shops around this time of the year.  Hope this provides some insight into my culture.