This week, millions of people will be celebrating Chinese New Year, which will be marked by communities all over the world. People will eat lots of food, enjoy fireworks, wear special clothes and hang red lanterns to mark the occasion. The Chinese New Year festivities will begin on Saturday 28 January 2017. The reason the new year falls now is because it marks the start of the lunar new year, which is when there is the start of a new moon. This is different to the “Gregorian” calendar that we traditionally use in the UK, which always starts on 1 January, and, because it depends on the moon, the date of Chinese New Year changes each year, though generally it will fall between 21 January and 20 February.
Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival. It is the most important celebration in the Chinese calendar. In Chinese tradition, each year is named after one of twelve animals, which feature in the Chinese zodiac. The animals have a year dedicated to them once every 12 years, in a cycle. 2016 was the year of the monkey, while this year will be the year of the rooster. It is believed that the rooster is a messenger from heaven, so it is traditionally seen as a symbol of trust and honesty – will it be a year of trust and honesty for you?
It’s a big celebration with families coming together for eating lots of delicious food, including noodle soup, which traditionally brings luck for the year ahead. Before the festivities begin, people clean their homes thoroughly to make them ready for the celebrations. Then, when New Year’s Day comes, there is a tradition not to pick up a broom, in case you sweep the good luck for the New Year out of the door! In China, schools and businesses can close for the first few days of the new year, so that everyone can spend time with their families. People enjoy There will be parades and performances, with people dressed in traditional clothes. Fireworks are also set off, because it is thought that noise and lights will scare away any evil spirits for the coming months. There will also be performances of music and dance like the Chinese dragon – which is what the brilliant year 1 from Welbeck Primary in The Meadows have been exploring this week!
Look at Nursery's fabulous co-operative work to make our Chinese dragon move and dance! 🐉 pic.twitter.com/SiERxPyQGd
Do you want to know which sign of the Chinese zodiac you are and what it says about you? Find out here by checking which year you were born in! (If you were born in January or February before Chinese New Year that year, though, your animal will be the sign for the year before) and, if you’re celebrating, have a wonderful time! 新年快乐 (Happy New Year!)
A week ago we got an email at OppNott Towers from our big boss – he’s a bit like Ms Trunchball in Mathilda without the sense of humour – asking us to write a blog about what you can do any weekend for next to nothing in Nottingham, which got us thinking. So, we made a list, checked it twice and found loads of different things you can try in your spare time! Loads of these are great things for you to do at any age (I’ve been trying quite a few as new year’s resolutions) and can be signed off as OppNotts activities when you’re logged into the site!
– De-clutter: why not sort and sell some old things you might not use again. Stop hoarding and get it on eBay, turning your old things and a bit of time into money! – Attend free events: Nottingham has loads of events across the city from films in the carparks at the tram stops to celebrations of the Chinese New Year. You can find What’s On here. – Have a picnic:who doesn’t enjoy having a picnic together? Eating is a great social activity to do with our friends and family, just make sure what you’re eating is healthy – not all crisps, sweets and pop! If the weather’s bad, then why not put a rug down at home and eat away from the table on the floor – or make a fort in the house to have your picnic in? – Take a hike: this doesn’t have to be something which involves going out into Derbyshire and the Peak District or walking miles and miles – an urban hike can be just as fun! Try using the Walk It app to find new open spaces in your area! – Go to a park: following on from the hike idea, why not explore your local park? There are loads in Nottingham so there’s sure to be one on your doorstep. Will it be the deer at Wollaton, the tree trail at the Arboretum or the ducks Vernon Park? You can find all of the city’s parks here. – Go on a bike ride:if you know how to cycle and have a bike then this is a great activity where you can see more of the area you live in and get fitter. There’s loads of info on cycling in the city here. You could always use a City Card Cycle too if you haven’t got a bike! – Play board/card games: test your skills in a board game or on a round of cards. Can you beat your family and friends? But don’t be a sore loser if you don’t win! – Read a book:one of my favourites! Books are the doorway to another world and can take us anywhere. With Nottingham now being an official City of Literature, why not celebrate this by doing more reading! Plus, Nottingham’s amazing libraries have all the latest titles and plenty of classics to keep your reading appetite satisfied! – Make a new recipe:open the cupboard and see what you find – it’s always a great challenge to make a new and delicious recipe whilst using up things from the back of cupboard. Just remember to help with the washing-up! – Create a piece of art for your home: art doesn’t just have to be paint and brushes – try making a found collage with items from the house like clean food cartons and other things from the recycling, or try a natural one using things found in the garden or your local park. – Take pictures and sort, print and organise them: borrow an adult’s camera or iPad, or if you’re lucky use your own, and take some snaps. Then print them – this is super easy to do at home if you have a printer or at Boots in town, then display them. Maybe make a montage or album for someone. – DIY something:help at home, with permission from your parents or carers, and do it yourself by refinishing or painting some furniture, help put together some flat pack or a shelf at home or make some new upholstery such as cushions or curtains. Don’t do this without adult help! – Visit a free museum:Wollaton Hall museum, Nottingham Contemporary, New Art Exchange in Hyson Green and Green’s Windmill in Sneinton are all free and the Castle has family deal tickets so there’s no excuse not to get to a museum in Nottingham! – Write something, draw or paint:getting something down on paper can be great fun and it can be anything. Get creative and write a story, a diary entry or a poem or draw or paint a picture. Be sure to share what you’ve created too! – Explore your library:your library is awesome with books, graphic novels, magazines, CDs, DVDs and local history all at your fingertips! Find your amazing library here – there’ll be one in your area or head into town and use Central Library on the Square. – Write your goals:making a bucket list (a list of experiences or achievements you hope to have or accomplish during your lifetime) is a super forward-thinking thing to do. Maybe work out what you’ll need to do to get there and what first-steps you can make now. – Do some gardening at home or for a neighbour:get green-fingered, either in your garden or one that belongs to a friend, relative or neighbour. Tending to the garden, maybe growing fruit or veg from seed, is a brilliant way to explore how we can be more self-sufficient and care for the planet. – Organise your shelves, cupboards, wardrobe: having a spring sort-out is a fantastic idea – out with the old and, linking back to the first suggestion, you can maybe sell some of the things you don’t need anymore – giving you some cash for new things!
Voting is open for the Nottinghamshire Sport awards. Which of your local heroes will you vote for in this bumper year for the region’s sports stars? Now in their 25th year, the prestigious awards set out to recognise the best of Nottinghamshire sport, from elite athletes to local clubs and community volunteers.
In the Sports Person of the year run-in will it be uneven bars and beam gymnast Becky Downie – a double European champion who had a great Rio games too? Or Short Track Speed Skating start Elise Christie who broke the 500m world record in Salt Lake City last year? Maybe local al-rounder Kate Hyde – nominated for both touch rugby (being a member of the England Touch team) and hockey, playing for Boots. How about Helen Richardson-Walsh, midfield dynamo and stalwart of the Team GB women’s field hockey team since 1999 that won gold at the Olympics? Or Sutton-in-Ashfield’s super Sam Walker who competed as part of Team GB in Rio in Table Tennis?
It has arguably been an even better and more successful year for para- and disability sport with the incredible haul the athletes bought home from Rio, with loads of local athletes. You can vote for gold medal winning para-rower Grace Clough, who won the mixed coxed fours in Brazil, just three years after taking up the sport! Or, super Sophie Hahn winning 100m gold in Rio, beating the previous Paralympic record on her way to the final and coming close to her own world record of 12.60 that she set in 2015? There’s our mate Ollie Hynd, the all-conquering gold medallist in 400m freestyle, beating the world record in the final, and 200m individual medley. setting another new world record! Will your vote go to yet another golden girl from Notts? This time, Sophie Wells (and her horse, Valerius) who is the Olympic individual Para-Dressage champion after winning a nail-biting finish against the Belgians! Para-Canoeing’s Emma Wiggs is also up for the award after a super 2016 after winning gold in the KL2 20m for Team GB in Rio and yet another world champion title in the same event as well! Richard Whitehead, Nottingham’s marathon champ, proving age is no barrier for sporting glory by winning 200m Olympic gold at age 40, to go with the silver he won in the 100m too!
You can cast your vote here and the winners are announced on 1st February. Obviously, we’re voting for Ollie (#TeamHynd) and backing the brilliant Whitemoor Academy for the Sporting Primary School of the Year gong.
