The New Year is a time of great excitement and joy for the Chinese people. The festivities get under way from 22 days prior to the New Year date and continue for 15 days afterwards. New Year's Eve and the first three days of the new year are observed as a public holiday, although this break sometimes lasts up to a week. Even though people return to work, the holiday atmosphere lasts through the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the first lunar month. During the time period before the New Year, people acquire and prepare the necessary food and new clothing to wear.
Food has a major prominence in all Chinese festivals, and New Year is no exception.
This is the time for purchasing and eating huge quantities of dried meats and fruits, special sausages, sweet and salty cakes, and numerous other delectables. Many foods have symbolic value. The Chinese word for fish rhymes with their word for surplus. By eating half of a fish on New Year's Eve and saving the remainder for the next day, families can transfer their surplus luck to the New Year. There is also a vegetarian dish with a special seaweed called fatchoi, which sounds the same as the word meaning prosperity.