Saturday 25 January saw the start of the Lunar New Year, The Year of the Rat. The Rat is the first sign of the zodiac. Rats are said to be highly intelligent, ambitious and quick-witted, with charming and social personalities.
Many people declutter and clean their house in preparation for the New Year, to sweep away the old and make way for the new. It is a time for family get-togethers and celebrations. On New Year’s Eve families have dinner together. New Year’s Day begins weeklong celebration, when families and friends catch up to eat and drink. Traditionally children looked forward to new clothes at new year. These days lucky money in little red envelopes is more common.
Coronavirus has thrown new year celebrations into disarray. Public holiday celebrations have been cut short this year and Chinese New Year has not been the same.
We are looking forward to welcoming our international students from China in a couple of weeks’ time. We have a colourful display celebrating the New Year in our café area. The second photo shows the collection of Chinese language books within the LOTE collection on level 0 in the library.
Happy Chinese New Year from the Grutzner Centre for Learning and Innovation Library!
Marg Moran
Acting Head of CLI Library
