Gong Xi Fa Cai in Malaysia

Confession: I still have yet to spend Chinese new year in China. Chinese new year is also called Spring Festival in China, and it’s a time for everyone to take time off of work and enjoy the lunar new year and the coming of spring. Time off means time for travel!

This year I went to Malaysia for Spring Festival and was thrilled to find Chinese new year in full swing being celebrated by a wide range of Malaysians. Malaysia is a fascinating mix of cultures including Malays, Chinese, Indians and many other immigrant groups. Almost every city we visited had a Little India and a Chinatown. This blend of cultures was represented almost everywhere: women in full burkha next to women in miniskirts, Indian food with Malay influences, mosques down the street from buddhist temples. To me, the beautiful mix of influences and cultures was the highlight of Malaysia, more so than its Petronas towers or its white, sandy beaches.

Ethnically Chinese people have been in Malaysia for over 500 years. We learned that they’re known as the Babas and Nynonas in Malaysia, the words that Malays originally used to refer to Chinese men and women. The Babas and Nynoas have a distinct culture, from the way they dress to the foods they eat. It’s a mix of their original Chinese influences and other influences they’ve acquired in the Malay peninsula.

For this reason, Chinese new year in Malaysia was fascinating.  Some of the celebratory customs were very distinctly Chinese like the traditional dragon Chinese dragon dance, lighting firecrackers, and wearing red. Others were not. Wandering around the streets on the eve of the Chinese new year, we saw a wide range of people, not just Chinese, out to celebrate. We ate foods we would be hard pressed to find in China, like shaved ice with pandan fruit and buttery pineapple tarts.

I’m a little ashamed to admit that I’ve lived in China for almost two years without experiencing a Chinese new year in China. But I consider my Malaysian Chinese new year to be something special and unique, an experience I’ll never forget!

Gong xi fa cai! Happy year of the dragon!