The year of the Rabbit! Being gentle natured, curious and high spirited, the Rabbit represents longevity, peace, prosperity and hope — all things we are hopeful for this year!
The Lunar New Year is a momentous annual event practiced by billions of individuals throughout the world. Here at Northeast Georgia Medical Center, we are grateful to share the thoughts and experiences of some of our residents.
Jifeng Wang, MD
Dr. Wang was born in Rome, Italy but grew up in Guayaquil, Ecuador. Jifeng continues to celebrate the Lunar New Year in Gainesville, Georgia!
For myself, Lunar New Year is a time for family gatherings. In Chinese culture, we don’t really celebrate too many holidays, but the Lunar New Year is one of the most significant. No matter where your family members are, we take our time to plan and try to gather at the same time. It’s the only celebration with our live family members but also an opportunity to pray and respect for those family members who are deceased. We give tribute a few days before the Lunar New Year by going to temples and praying, it’s a huge event over the span of 5-6 days. One of the highlights is the food: we eat and it’s all about eating good food with special certain dishes that are prepared for this event. Other fun traditions includes passing along red packets and celebrating with newborns.
Even though I have celebrated Lunar New Year in different countries and territories, the feel of the Lunar New Year has always been the same. Each place, the Chinese population is really great at replicating the feeling of the event. In Ecuador, the community is big and they try to celebrate in a big venue where people can come and enjoy performances. In Italy, it’s very similar. In the US, it’s actually way more similar to the Chinese New Year since there’s more people over here – but, it doesn’t feel like I’m outside of China.
“As a Dad, definitely the holiday brings a lot more value and I feel like I have more duties to do as a father. For example, when I didn’t have a baby, I would just celebrate casually, but now with my son, we’re trying to stick to the traditions and have him dress up or wear new clothes for the Lunar New Year, have a proper Chinese New Year’s meal, and take him out and have fun!”
Dr. Wang
For people who don’t know about it, I think it’s something similar to Thanksgiving and Christmas combined! It’s a time where each and every one of the family members can gather for pure joy; nothing more than pure joy and appreciating what we have.
Moyan (Michael) Sun, DO
Dr. Sun was born in Hohhot, China and continues to celebrate the Lunar New Year in Gainesville, Georgia.
“Lunar New Year is a time to celebrate with family. Born and bred into this, the Chinese New Year runs deep within my veins. It’s a festivity that we share with loved ones. Moments that you always cherish. And breadth of remembrance for those we love.”
Dr. Sun
As a Chinese-American thousand miles away from my birthplace, the Lunar New Years offers an opportunity to reconnect with those that I miss and the fond memories from childhood. While the Chinese New Year is understandably less celebrated amongst all people within the nation in the United States compared to China, the quality of the holiday is actually the same such as in Chinatown in Doraville or in places like homes of family and friends. Some traditions include loud firecrackers, dumplings and moon cakes! I will be going home to spend time with family (and to study MKSAP). I think Lunar New Years is often thought as an eastern Asian event, however it is an opportunity for people of all different cultures to come an experience one another’s background through food, laughter and celebration.
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