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Red Envelopes and Good Fortune

kdelevett
Employee
Employee

Everyone knows February 14 is Valentine’s Day, your LUV Airline’s favorite holiday. But while you’re swapping red envelopes with love notes inside, millions of Asian Americans will be opening a different kind of red envelopes. That’s because the date also kicks off the Lunar New Year, and for the next 15 days, Asian people here and overseas will be celebrating the Year of the Tiger with centuries-old customs. 

Some of those traditions include visiting relatives; preparing specialty dishes; cleaning and decorating their homes; praying to ancestors and deities; settling debts; burning incense and paper money; setting off firecrackers to ward off evil spirits; and, yes, offering children those money-filled red envelopes--all for good luck in the new year.

And here in the Bay Area, thousands of folks will line the streets of downtown San Francisco later this month to watch the annual Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year Parade – recognized as one of the country’s best parades. Find out more at www.chineseparade.com.

Fun Facts:

  • Each year in the Lunar Calendar is named for an animal, and every 12 years the cycle repeats.
  • Tigers are romantic, independent, brave, kind, and daring, to name a few traits.
  • Famous Tigers include Beethoven, Rosie O'Donnell, Queen Elizabeth II, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Marilyn Monroe, and Tom Cruise!

 

Wishing you and your families lots for LUV and good fortune in the year of the Tiger! Gung hay fat choy – or, as they say in my native Vietnam, chuc mung nam moi!

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