Lucky messages are attached to both sides of the front door. A visitor from this world or the next would have a hard time missing the welcome. A table is set up and covered with offerings for the gods. Candles are lit, incense is burned, family prayers are offered and a little wine is poured, just to keep up the spirits of the spirits. When the incense has burned down about halfway, the gods are considered to have had their meal.
Chinese gods have a great diet.
Eating, it seems, is not an essential part of their balanced diet. When the gods have finished, the remainder of the meal goes to the family and becomes everyone's dinner. The foods of the Chinese New Year are chosen for their symbolic meaning. Green foods mark growth and red foods signify warmth and good fortune, the same colors and meanings we see in the West as part of the Christmas celebration. If a married woman of childbearing age finds a dumpling filled with sugarcoated lotus seeds on her plate, it is a signal that she will have a son during the next 12 months.