Leave your hair as it is on the first day of the New Year. The Chinese character for hair is the same first character in the word for prosper. This means washing or cutting it off is seen as washing your fortune away and dramatically reduces chances of prosperity in the year ahead.
Not only you should avoid cleaning your house during the Chinese New Year, but washing hair and clothes is also forbidden. Make sure instead of sweeping away the dirt, you spend time with your family this coming year.
“On the first two days of the New Year, we do not wash our hair as it will wash away the good luck. In the first 15 days, we can wash our hair once with pomelo leaves, then washing hair becomes normal again. We just have to avoid days 1,2,7, and 15,” Debbie explains.
* No Showering on Chinese New Year's Eve
It's bad luck to wash your hair and have a shower!
Don't wash those clothes
This is an odd one. According to folklore, if you wash clothes on New Year's Day, you'll be “washing for the dead” or washing a loved one away -- meaning someone in your household will die in the coming year. Get your laundry washed, dried, folded and put away by New Year's Eve.
You could be washing your luck away…at least according to a Korean superstition that says you shouldn't bathe or shower on New Year's day.
No Haircuts On The First Day Of The New Year
According to Lunar New Year etiquette, you should never cut your hair on the first day of the New Year. The Chinese character for 'hair' is also the first character in the word 'prosper'. This means that you will literally wash your fortunes away if you cut your hair.
Do Not Wear Black. Never wear clothes in black during the Chinese New year because it is typically worn during funerals. The color has been associated with death. It is considered to be unlucky.
No personal grooming or housekeeping allowed. Do not wash your hair, cut your nails, use the scissors or sweep the floor on the first day of Chinese New Year.
No washing or cutting your hair
It is believed that if you wash your hair on New Year's day, you'd also be washing away all your luck. It's somewhat similar to if you cut your hair, you'd be cutting your life shorter!
Traditionally houses are cleaned on the 28th day (of the last month) of the (old) year, prior to the Chinese New Year, and red trimmings are placed on doorways and windows to scare away the monster Nian as it is afraid of the colour red.
People dress in the vibrant color for the Lunar New Year because they'd like to bring good luck with them into the changing seasons. Two colors within Chinese culture, however, should be avoided: black and white, which are traditionally colors worn in times of mourning.
Tip: Always offer two mandarin oranges with both hands. This is the most basic form of respect in Chinese culture. Your recipient may politely refuse at first, but don't give up — keep trying and they'll eventually give in and exchange a pair with you!
Opening windows and/or doors is considered to bring in the good luck of the new year. Switching on the lights for the night is considered good luck to 'scare away' ghosts and spirits of misfortune that may compromise the luck and fortune of the New Year.
Members of the family sit around a big table to have a New Year's Eve dinner. This is known as Nian Ye Fan (年夜饭). Families burn incense to worship their ancestors. Older and senior members of the family give the younger ones good luck pocket money known as Ya Sui Qian (压岁钱) contained in a red envelop (Hong Bao 红包).
Unlike China and many other countries in Asia, Japan as a society broadly doesn't celebrate the Lunar New Year—although that wasn't always the case.
Both white and black are unlucky colors for Chinese New Year.
Wearing Gold On New Year's Eve
Gold is the most auspicious color for manifesting since it represents alchemy, wealth, and royalty.
“Head-to-toe pink — pink dress, pink bag, pink pumps — is obviously a no-no,” he stressed. Also, do not match your lip colour with the colour of your outfit. “It makes you look too coordinated and a bit comical,” he said. Instead, if you are wearing a shocking pink or fuchsia dress, keep it simple with a nude lip.
Don't wash clothes.
People do not wash clothes on the first and second day of the new year, because these two days are celebrated as the birthday of the water god. To wash clothes is regarded as disrespect to the god of water. The ancients believed that water symbolizes wealth.
Don't cut your hair during the first month of Lunar New Year
It was once believed that doing so during that time frame would bring harm to a person's maternal uncles. Today, people in some Chinese provinces still observe the tradition.
It is believed that cutting or trimming hair on Saturday reduces life by seven months. Therefore, to stay safe from the aforementioned things, getting a haircut on Saturday, Thursday and Tuesday is prohibited.