Show r Family Holds To o Traditions s by Rich Smart Lily Toy Hong a Chinese girl is attending She is studying art She was born in the United States and has grown grownup up in Salt Lake City Utah Both of her parents left China forty years ago and they continue to hold strong to some of their Chinese traditions According to Lily the two main traditional differences the Chinese have from the Americans are 1 the Chinese New Year and 2 their funeral customs The Chinese New Year is very exciting for the Chinese On New Years Year's Eve they prepare a feast which consists of very humble food They have such things as vegetables and fruits with no meats After the feast they leave out oranges and grapefruit for forthe forthe forthe the Good Spirit of the New Year to eat They leave a light on which is to signify to the Good Spirit to come into their house After all the fruit is displayed and the light turned on the family goes to sleep When they wake up in the morning they all eat a piece of sugar candy they have another feast with a different menu this time they serve meat After the meal they receive wishes of Good Fortune and a gift of money from their parents During the New Year celebration the family speaks in their native Chinese tongue The funeral custom is also very different from those practiced in the United States When a husband dies the wife stays home with all of the lights on during the funeral services After the services are over the family returns home and they eat raw rice and sugar candy It is customary for friends to give candy to the family who has lost their loved one because the sugar candy means Good Luck That is their way of showing their condolences Instead of bringing flowers to the grave on Memorial Day the Chinese bring big trays of food and place them on the grave to feed the dead They also take money and burn it on the grave so that the dead can have some money to live on on the other side During the Memorial Day visit the family burns incense on the grave Lilys Lily's parents are Buddhists while she is a member of the Church She is grateful for her heritage and hopes to learn much more about her posterity |