‘There’s a sense of hope and anticipation’

Each January or February – depending on when the holiday falls – Wendy Lee, a wedding and event planner in Toronto, gets together with her extended family on the eve and on the day of Lunar New Year.

At someone’s house or at a restaurant, all 18 members of her family feast on traditional dishes to celebrate the dawn of the new year, including fish, noodles and chicken dumplings.

“Through Chinese heritage, Lunar New Year is based on eating together and spending time together. It’s not focused on exchanging gifts – it’s more familial,” said Lee.

Except, they haven’t been able to get together the past two years because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“For some families, Lunar New Year is as big as Christmas,” she said. “It’s a big deal to close out the year as a family and start the new year together as a family. It’s a time-honoured tradition that got broken.”

Lee said it is foreign for her three kids – they range in age from seven to 17 – to not sit around a big table with their cousins and spend time with each other. This year will be different. Having just been able to celebrate Christmas with their cousins, Lee said her kids have already started asking in they will get to see their relatives to mark Lunar New Year on Sunday, Jan. 22.

For this year’s celebration – the start of the Year of the Rabbit – Lee’s family plans to get together, if no one is symptomatic. And the celebrations will be a little different than in the past. After all that has happened in the last few years – like online learning and social distancing – the focus will be on simply spending time together.

“Rather than being so fixated on eating traditional lucky dishes, we’ll do what makes us happy: comfort food,” said Lee, who adds her family was blessed because no on experienced long-term effects or died from COVID-19. “Part of this Lunar New Year is feeling extra lucky and having an extra dose of gratitude that we can get together.”

Getting together is also on the mind of Hamilton-based registered dietitian Michelle Jaelin. Three generations of her family plan to gather as they traditionally do to gossip while snacking on mandarin oranges, candied ginger and dishes such as lo mai gai (sticky rice chicken).

Jaelin’s family hasn’t celebrated Lunar New Year together since 2019, so there are relatives she hasn’t seen in several years. She said the fact people can now get together makes the Year of the Rabbit feel extra special, though she is also realistic about what getting all these relatives together might entail.

“Families can be toxic and say things that aren’t nice or open-minded,” Jaelin said. “It’s now easy to find an excuse for not going to a family event if I don’t want to deal with prying questions about what I haven’t done with my life.”

Possible family drama aside, Jaelin said she is still looking forward to seeing them and enjoy the big feast they have planned.

Starting new traditions

Toronto-based hospitality and beverage expert Evelyn Chick has family living all over the world. In the past, they would all gather in one city to celebrate Lunar New Year. Since the start of the pandemic, her family has gone digital with its celebrations – something it also plans to do to mark the Year of the Rabbit.

She said they will have a Zoom call, and, instead of handing out red envelopes filled with cash in person, her mother will e-transfer money to Chick’s children. The celebrations will also see photos shared virtually and a group chat all about what they are eating to celebrate the holiday.

It’s different, for sure, but Chick said these virtual meetups have allowed her own household to start its own tradition: ordering a feast of noodles, duck and pork from a local Asian-owned restaurant and eating at home with her partner and a couple friends. She said it is a way she can celebrate all the flavours of her childhood growing up in Hong Kong.

Marking Lunar New Year has also changed for Toronto restaurateur Colin Li. Pre-pandemic, Li said he would enjoy spending several days attending dinners and festivities with his extended family (including dim sum meals that would last for hours). He would also go shopping at Asian supermarkets with his relatives to buy all the ingredients to make a special meal at home. At night, he would also visit the Buddhist temples in Markham to say a blessing.

Since the start of the pandemic, many of his family members have moved away from the city or back to Asia, so those multi-day celebrations are a thing of the past. Li said he will still be ringing in the Year of the Rabbit with family, but on a smaller and more casual scale.

“But we will be even more grateful this year because we can actually gather together,” said Li, who adds that he sees this new year as being even more special because it is a fresh start. “We shared a situation,” he said. “It’s the new normal. And we don’t know what’s going to happen, but I’m excited to go forward with the new year.”

And that, said North York-based registered psychotherapist Michael Kang, is why holidays like Lunar New Year are important. They help to inspire a shift in our outlook.

“Lunar New Year really gives us a chance to reflect on the past year, and while it’s been challenging, there are always moments of joy,” Kang said. “Often when we’re not intentional about reflecting on things, so those moments of happiness can get lost.”

He said occasions like Lunar New Year encourage people to consider the pillars that will guide them through the next 12 months. “Lunar New Year is a magical, special day. It’s got good energy. There’s a sense of hope and anticipation.”