According to Chinese astrology, the year's patron animal lends his personal characteristics to the entire year. Chinese New Year is also known as the Spring Festival, which helps explain why the Chinese celebrate the New Year in late January. The envelopes symbolize luck and wealth.
Oranges symbolize good fortune because they are sweet and one of China's most abundant fruits.
Everyone in China knows better than to miss out on the most magnificent feast of the year. A homonym is a word that is either spelled or sounds the same as another word, but means something entirely different. For helpful advice on how to prepare jiaozi for your friends and family, read Scrumptious Pot Stickers . For more recipes to choose from, please see our directory of all our Chinese recipes . This article was written by Tammy Weisberger , an Allrecipes staff writer.