While many people in the Chinese community in Mackay will be celebrating the Chinese New Year together in the town, Kim Wu is making the extra effort to travel home to China for the festivities.
The Lunar New Year is on January 23 this year and Kim Wu is making the long journey from north Queensland town of Mackay to her hometown of Kenton, China, to celebrate the most important date on the Chinese calendar with her family.
"I go home to spend the Chinese New Year with my family most years in China, the Chinese New Year means that all the family comes together to celebrate.""Most people who can get a holiday around the Chinese New Year will fly back to China to celebrate," Ms Wu says.
Ms Wu compares the emphasis on celebrating the New Year with the whole family to the way Australians celebrate Christmas as a family.
"We want the whole family together," she says.
If Ms Wu, who has been living in Mackay for the last seven years, isn't able to make the journey back to China, she celebrates the New Year with all the Chinese people in Mackay.
Ms Wu explains that there are many traditions involved with the Chinese New Year.
"First thing, we need to clean up the house and sweep away all the bad luck from the past year to get ready for all the good luck to come in during the New Year."
"Then we put money in red envelopes to give to the children," she says.
Decorating the house with the colour red is another important tradition.
"All of the red colour on the doors and the symbols such as a dragon can scare away all the bad spirits."
All of the traditions, such as cleaning the house, are done before the New Year arrives to prepare for all the good luck to come through in the Chinese New Year.
The most important tradition is to celebrate the holiday with your family.
"We sit all together, as a family, to celebrate."
"That means in the future the family will be all together," Ms Wu says.
According to the Chinese calendar, 2012 is the Year of the Dragon.
According to Ms Wu, the Dragon Year means good luck.
"Most people believe that the Dragon Year is a good year."
"In the dragon year we can see a lot of people wanting to marry and wanting to have children," she says. "So it must be a good year."
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