Flight Rising Discussion

[center][img]https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/184f8dd2-7a2f-4109-b648-c612cda931d7/dcvzrvx-a7964983-dad2-4e9a-a4a8-372f4f09023a.png[/img] [size=5][color=#A61C1C][b]Event Date: 4th - 10th February 2019[/b][/size] [color=#A61C1C][i]In the distance, you see lights and hear music. It's not music you've really heard before, and when you fly high enough, you can see hundreds of dragons milling about a bright and festive market. Dragons are holding beautiful paper lanterns with candles lighting them up from the inside, firecrackers are popping, some are behind colourfully lit stalls and selling handmade treats and goodies. Well, might as well go check it out, right?[/i] [color=#A61C1C]Welcome, welcome, to the annual Chinese New Year festival hosted by yours truly! Last year in 2018, we celebrated the Year of the Dog, and as we say goodbye to 2018 and welcome in 2019, we also welcome in a new Chinese zodiac. Yes, we're finally at the end of a twelve year cycle and welcome the 12th zodiac, the pig/boar! This year, we've taken your feedback after last year's event and simplified things, but we're still going to give you all the fun and goodness from last year's Year of the Dog event! [b]What is Chinese New Year?[/b] Chinese New year is celebrated by Chinese people all over the world. It's when we enter the year of one of the 12 zodiacs in the following order: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. During this time, we celebrate new beginnings. Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year is often celebrated with a reunion dinner on the eve of CNY, where families come together to have a meal. This practice was created as in ancient China, families lived apart for work, and for one day a year they could come together again. During CNY itself, we visit our friends and family, eat, play with firecrackers, and such! We prepare for CNY by sweeping the whole house, and buying new clothes to represent new beginnings, and red is the main colour for CNY because it's an auspicious colour and invites luck. [b]What is this event?[/b] I'm Chinese, and this is one of my favourite traditional festivals. Through this, I want to share the stories and fun of celebrating Chinese New Year while also creating a fun event for you to participate in! You don't have to be Chinese or know anything about CNY to participate - the fun is in your experience! And if you can learn something about Chinese New Year while you're here, then that's even better for me!

[center][img]https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/184f8dd2-7a2f-4109-b648-c612cda931d7/dcvzrw8-b7ac2abc-a59d-458d-aeba-3ab39a1eef64.png[/img] [color=#A61C1C]As with every year, we have an awesome line up of events! These will all open when the event starts on February 4th, 2019. Want to be pinged when events open? Let me know![/center] [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/raf/2609887/1][img]https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/184f8dd2-7a2f-4109-b648-c612cda931d7/dcvzrvy-dd5a4584-c534-4d0a-b7d2-920b95576d8c.png[/img][/url] [color=#a61c1c]Throughout the event you can buy tickets that will score you a chance to get some awesome prizes! The raffle will be drawn at the end of the event on the final day, right before closing. [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/art/2610949/1#post_37214670][img]https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/184f8dd2-7a2f-4109-b648-c612cda931d7/dcvzrw1-6cb0aa41-0135-4d56-a70f-b7713dd11a55.png[/img][/url] [color=#a61c1c]Want to buy some awesome art from some of FR's amazing pool of artists? Come on down to the Lunar Marketplace to grab some beautiful pieces! [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/drs/2609881/1#post_37189791][img]https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/184f8dd2-7a2f-4109-b648-c612cda931d7/dcvzrwb-c8e8aee8-f67d-45f5-b079-d7d697eafffe.png[/img][/url] [color=#a61c1c]Find yourself drawn to the dressing room? Think your knowledge of every single apparel in existence can be put to the test? Try your styling skills at our dressing contest, with ticket prizes and badges for your outfits! [url=http://www1.flightrising.com/forums/cc/2605396/][img]https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/184f8dd2-7a2f-4109-b648-c612cda931d7/dcvzrwh-1c6566d4-a9c7-49fd-b7db-e47874e3dd49.png[/img][/url] [color=#a61c1c]Perhaps you're into colouring? Our colouring contest features line art by FR users for you to colour in! Awesome entries will be featured, and you've got badges to win too!

[img]https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/184f8dd2-7a2f-4109-b648-c612cda931d7/dcvzt5y-4f8a8079-6f65-4f6b-a5e5-989df5179622.png[/img] [color=#a61c1c]Here's some CNY and related trivia for fun! I'll be adding a new trivia every day until the event begins, so keep watch! [quote]- There are 12 Chinese Zodiacs, determined by a race. The Jade Emperor was celebrating his birthday but there was no way of telling the year, and hence how old he was. As such, he created a race. The first 12 animals to cross the finish line would each represent a year. One version of the tale says that the cat wanted to join in, but asked a rat to help her sign up for the race without realising that he would sign himself up instead. That's why there is no house cat in the Chinese Zodiac despite cats being a lucky figure. The rat made friends with the ox and hitched a ride all the way until the last stretch of the race. Once the gates were in sight, the rat jumped off the ox's head to get a boost and became the first zodiac, followed by the ox. They were followed by the tiger and rabbit. However, as the tiger could swim, he made it across a river faster and overtook rabbit. Tiger and Rabbit did not agree with each other, and the tiger tried to accuse the rabbit of cheating, though she said she got across the river by hopping from one log to another. The dragon was actually the fastest and would have won first place, but in one version of the tale, he helped the rabbit cross a river as the rabbit could not swim, but in another version, he helped free the rooster, dog, and ox from a malicious spirit in a forest. The horse was supposed to come in sixth, but as he was reaching the gates, the snake slithered out, surprising the horse so that he reared back, allowing the snake to forge ahead and come in sixth, placing the horse in seventh. When the dog, pig, and rooster got to the gates, the pig was tired and lagging behind. The dog wanted to walk with him and asked the rooster to walk with them, but the rooster saw how slow the pig was walking and went ahead without them. The dog followed quickly, not wanting to be last place. In another version, the rooster had actually teamed up with the sheep and the monkey instead of the dog and pig. All of them made it to the end, and were granted each a year to represent in a 12-year cycle. Once the cycle ends, it starts again.[/quote] [quote]- Want to know your zodiac? For reference, the year 2000 was the year of the dragon. So if you were born in 1995, you were born in the year of the Pig! So it's your year again. You can either give it a google to find your zodiac, or get a picture of a zodiac wheel and count backwards from the pig.[/quote] [quote]- It's a common thought that the zodiac a child is born under gives the child certain personality traits, which is why many children are born in the year of the Dragon. Some parents even try to time their births to have their child born under a certain zodiac![/quote] [quote]- Each zodiac has 2 allies, and one secret friend. The two allies and the zodiac in question form a perfect triangle in a zodiac wheel, while the secret friend is paired starting with the rat and ox, then the zodiac to the left of the ox and the right of the rat are secret friends (tiger and pig), then the left of the tiger and right of the pig (rabbit and dog) are secret friends, so on and so forth. [/quote] [quote]- Each zodiac also has a conflict zodiac, which is directly opposite them on the zodiac wheel. People with these two conflicting zodiacs can actually clash a lot due to inherently different personalities that just don't match.[/quote] [quote]- The focus isn't only on zodiacs. A few common lucky animal that usually features in Chinese New Year decorations are calico cats, and koi fish. Calico cats represent wealth, and you may have seen a statue of a calico cat with its left paw up and bobbing up and down, which is called a "Zhao cai mao" (cat that brings fortune). Some Chinese restaurants have these are the counters. The koi/carp represents energy and prosperity, and are sometimes used in Feng Shui.[/quote] [quote]- While there are many different treats during Chinese New Year, one of the most common is pineapple tart. It's a small bite-sized pastry that melts in your mouth, with pineapple paste on top. Some families choose to make their own, but it's readily available in markets in majority-Chinese countries like Singapore. Other treats include peanut cakes (a soft and very crumbly peanut paste shaped like a thick and small disc), love letters (rolled up thin crepe-like biscuits. They look like straws, but they're not the same as wafer rolls), lotus chips, and arrow root chips.[/quote] [quote]- Traditionally, women would wear specific types of dresses for Chinese New Year. This would be the mainly Cheongsam (a dress that has short sleeves and goes down to above the knee and is very fitted). The Qipao is sometimes mistaken as a different dress, but they're actually the same thing! Qipao is the Chinese origin, whereas Cheongsam is an English derivative of the Cantonese word for the same dress. These dresses were traditionally only red with gold or pink trimmings, but now come in all sorts of colours! Another popular modern colour is white and blue.[/quote] [quote]- Chinese people put up decorations around CNY and that's no secret, but a very popular one is "fu dao" (literal translation: wealth flipped). It's symbolised by the Chinese character "fu" meaning wealth being flipped upside down and pasted on the door of a house. This represents pouring wealth into the house![/quote] [quote]- Two very common performances that happen around CNY is the Lion Dance, and the Dragon Dance (although the Lion Dance is more common, simply because the Dragon Dance needs a lot of space because it's a very big thing). Here in Singapore, many schools and malls invite lion dancers to perform, because it ushers in wealth and prosperity. Lion dancers are a pair of people whose upper torsos are hidden under a large lion cloak, elaborately decorated and very soft to the touch with its plush trimmings. The person in front acts as the lions's front legs, and control its head, while the person in the back controls the lions back legs and is responsible for a lot of tricks, like the lion rearing up on twos. It's a very taxing thing to do, especially for the back performer because he has to bend down all the time and also be able to lift his partner up to mimic the lion standing on twos. All lion dancers are also very talented and can do tricks like balancing on poles, mimicking "eating oranges", and do very sharp and controlled movements. Most lion costumes are gold, red, orange, and yellow, but other variations include white, black, green, and blue too! [/quote] [quote]- A lot of what we do to celebrate Chinese New Year can be traced back to the origin story of the event. The story is as goes: Long ago in the mountains, there lived a horrible demon creature named Nian. Every year, on the first day of the year, the creature would awaken and descend upon the village. He would eat all the grain and livestock. And if there were any unfortunately children stuck outside, they would disappear. The villagers lived in fear of this beast and boarded up their houses on this night to protect their families. One year, right before this event was to occur, an old man visited the village. He turned to the villagers and asked, "Why do you fear this creature such? You are many and he is but one. Surely he could not swallow all of you." But the villagers remained skeptical and locked themselves up anyway. That night, Nian did not come. The old man had ridden him until dawn and the creature went back to its cave hungry. This went on for several nights until the old man revealed, "I cannot protect you forever." He turned out to be a god and had to return to his duties elsewhere. The villagers were terrified that once the old man left, they would once again see Nian return. So the old man informed them, "The beast is easily scared. He does not like the color red. He fears loud noises and strange creatures. So tonight, spread red across the village. Hang red signs on every door. Make loud noises with drums, music, and fireworks. And to protect your children, give them face masks and lanterns to protect them." The villagers did as the old man instructed and Nian never returned again. In Chinese, the word for New Years is Guo Nian. Literally translated it means to "pass over Nian" or "overcome Nian". That is exactly what the villagers did. It has become a tradition that part of New Years celebration is to hang lots of red decoration in your house. Streets are filled with music, loud drums, and fireworks all day long. And special paper lanterns are made in a variety of shapes and sizes, paraded through the streets to scare off any demons that might come.[/quote] [quote]On the night before Chinese New Year which is called Chu Xi (pronounced choo see), families have reunion dinner. Reunion dinner can be any food but is almost always prepared at home, and is usually steamboat/hot pot. Here in Singapore, we refer to it as steamboat. Steamboat is a type of meal where there is a central pot of soup that is constantly boiling at the table, with a lot of different foods that can be placed in the soup or eaten as is, usually accompanied by steamed rice. While the foods that feature at steamboat differs from family to family, my family always has abalone, ngoh hiang (pronounced gnaw-hee-yang), prawns, steamed fish, meatballs, fishballs, cocktail sausages, and vegetables.[/quote] [quote]Red packets or [i]ang bao[/i] are small envelopes with money in them, given during Chinese New Year, generally by married people to the children of the family. Parents, grandparents, and cousins/siblings that are married. It really differs from one family to another, and some older siblings who are single choose not to receive red packets from their younger married siblings because of awkwardness.[/quote] [quote]Mandarin oranges are given in pairs during Chinese New Year when visiting. The colour of the orange is usually a very rich orange, and is similar to gold, hence symbolising luck! They're also very tasty and sweet![/quote]

[center][img]https://images-wixmp-ed30a86b8c4ca887773594c2.wixmp.com/intermediary/f/184f8dd2-7a2f-4109-b648-c612cda931d7/dcvzrwo-8642f25c-71e9-4e5b-9308-c744c0f3ef40.png[/img] [color=#a61c1c]Special thanks to everyone who made the event possible! [color=#a61c1c][b]Host[/b] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/136875/13687444p.png[/img] Rexcaliburr [b]Event Artists[/b] [columns][color=transparent]xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [nextcol][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=view&tab=userpage&id=1005][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/93608/9360792p.png[/img][/url] [center][color=#a61c1c]@Bluedragon [nextcol][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=view&tab=userpage&id=82790][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/481087/48108640p.png[/img][/url] [center][color=#a61c1c]@Dovalore[/columns] [color=#a61c1c][b]Donator[/b] [img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/242558/24255783p.png[/img] @Exeidur [b]Lunar Marketplace Artists[/b] [columns][color=transparent]xxxxx [nextcol][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=view&tab=userpage&id=128768][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/169298/16929767p.png[/img][/url] [center]@Decapitation [nextcol][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=view&tab=userpage&id=228631][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/217330/21732990p.png[/img][/url] [center]@Kaidi [nextcol][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=view&tab=userpage&id=126269][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/397302/39730123p.png[/img][/url] [center]@Potari [nextcol][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=view&tab=userpage&id=216145][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/369625/36962423p.png[/img][/url] [center]@DragonDraws [nextcol][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=view&tab=userpage&id=276686][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/82005/8200492p.png[/img][/url] [center]@gbot13 [nextcol][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=view&tab=userpage&id=434453][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/474756/47475514p.png[/img][/url] [center]@RineBary [/columns] [columns][color=transparent]xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [nextcol][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=view&tab=userpage&id=299862][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/297433/29743293p.png[/img][/url] [center]@Quintillion [nextcol][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=view&tab=userpage&id=274343][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/345412/34541158p.png[/img][/url] [center]@Snowkitsu [nextcol][url=http://flightrising.com/main.php?p=lair&tab=userpage&id=410763][img]http://flightrising.com/rendern/portraits/489819/48981822p.png[/img][/url] [center]@MetalSpaghetti [/columns]

reserve

reserve

Want to be pinged when the event opens? Want to only be pinged for daily trivia? Let me know in the thread!

Opening ping: @LeafeonWarrior @Theophilus @Spellweaver @Bluedragon @Quintillion @CaliCa1 @SilverDeath @TwilightStars @Kazucrow @Luhnia @MollyMerula @Whirlwish @Katsuokai @Sidegrinder @Cherise @Kookaburra @Wulfgang @arcaneidolriots @BlazingSkyDragon @Tarany @Yuubi @Acuarela @angryisosceles @KrazKitCat @Harana @Snivy88 @Leucine @Gravebloom @Starcloud @Tox @Eialayne @CowboyMouth @Druddigon8 @SashaFiredrake @Snowkitsu @sockmonkeygerald @Disbounded @Kaidi @Starwindrider @Jaspernoir @MusicMiner @Alamire @QueenAltari @LadyKnightKatsa @HedwigHufflepuff @rhipheus @Welgan @Lallie @ghosthymn @Kintoro @Drag0n5 @Kryptica

Trivia ping: @LeafeonWarrior @Theophilus @Spellweaver @Quintillion @CaliCa1 @TwilightStars @Luhnia @Sidegrinder @arcaneidolriots @Tarany @Acuarela @Gravebloom @Starcloud @SashaFiredrake @Snowkitsu @Jaspernoir @Alamire @Yuubi @Kintoro @Kryptica @Disbounded

@LeafeonWarrior Absolutely! And congrats on your new boar ^^

@LeafeonWarrior Here's today's trivia!

While there are many different treats during Chinese New Year, one of the most common is pineapple tart. It's a small bite-sized pastry that melts in your mouth, with pineapple paste on top. Some families choose to make their own, but it's readily available in markets in majority-Chinese countries like Singapore. Other treats include peanut cakes (a soft and very crumbly peanut paste shaped like a thick and small disc), love letters (rolled up thin crepe-like biscuits. They look like straws, but they're not the same as wafer rolls), lotus chips, and arrow root chips.