What is Chap Goh Mei and What Should You Do?
“Chap Goh Mei” refer to the fifteenth day of Lunar New Year. On this day, it also marks the end of Chinese New Year celebrations. It is also regarded as Chinese Valentine’s Day.
Back in the ancient days, unmarried young ladies would dress up and accompany by a chaperone to throw mandarin oranges into the sea. Young men on the other side will take note and arrange for a marriage proposal.
Today, single ladies will write their names and contact on the oranges and young men would scoop up these fruits and connect with the lucky girl they got. The tradition has evolved and doesn’t limit to those who singles. People also throw in fruits with good wishes written on them.
Knowing new friends are made easy these days where you can swipe through different dating apps such as Bumble and Tinder but we can’t deny that this culture we inherited from our ancestors is charming and romantic on its own.
Other than Chap Goh Mei, the Chinese community also consider it as “Yuan Xiao Jie” (The Lantern Festival). One of the major activities is to solve riddles on the lanterns. Lantern of various shapes and sizes can be seen everywhere and it is believed that the brighter the lantern is, the luckier you will be. On this night, you can observe cultural performances, lion dances and a lot of fireworks.
The pandemic has taken a toll on us this year and relationships are more challenging to manage. We can still make a good wish and let’s pray that we can reunite with our loved ones and go out freely as soon as we can!
This article is brought to you by Bykido.
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