Hey everyone, it’s your host LAZOU here.
Feb 17, 2026 will be Lunar New Year based on the Chinese Lunar Calendar, which is celebrated in China, Korea, Vietnam, Taiwan, Hong Kong. However, many other cultures also have a Lunar New Year that happens on a different date according to different Lunar Calendars. My goal with this episode is to get a sense of how Lunar New Year is celebrated in different cultures, so the more the merrier!
What to submit
For this episode, I am looking for:
- Tell me how your family celebrates your culture’s version of Lunar New Year. This could include rituals, or specific foods or superstitions or family activities. Be sure to mention your favorite or least favorite part if you have one.
- Tell me about any myths or origin stories or historical facts you were told about Lunar New Year?
- Tell me about the most memorable Lunar New Year of your life.
You only have to submit to one of these three prompts.
Your submission should be no longer than 5 minutes or 800 words.
If you’re interested in participating, send your script via email to nuancespodcast@gmail.com.
This will help ensure that your submission fits what I’m looking for. I might suggest minor edits for length and clarity before you go ahead and record it.
Example script
If you need a bit more of a reference, here is a draft of what I will be sharing for this episode:
My name is Lazou. I’m Hakka Chinese and I grew up on a tiny African island called Mauritius, where Chinese New Year is a national pubic holiday. Growing up, CNY was a big deal. I looked forward to it even more than Christmas!
Most of the Chinese people in Mauritius are both Buddhist and Christian, typically Catholic, which makes my experience pretty syncretic, as you’ll see.
In the weeks leading up to CNY, preparations would be in full swing. That’s often when we would deep clean windows and power wash the outside of the house. Our equivalent of spring cleaning I guess. We’d also be putting in orders for orange flavored rice cakes we call Tiam Pan. These are made with glutinous rice flour and caramelized orange peels, steamed for several hours. In addition to having some for ourselves, we would order extras to give as gifts to our non-Chinese friends and colleagues at work or school. Those who made their own at home would often make extras to give to family too, because after all home made is always best.
On the eve of the new year, I remember waking up a little earlier than usual and after getting our school uniforms on, my brother and I would join my parents on the terrace where my dad had already set up a table with offerings of a steamed chicken, wine and fruits. He would light up three sticks of incense, then, holding them with both hands, he’d say a quiet prayer. Once he’s done, he would bow three times and pass the incense to the next person. Once we had all paid our respects, the food would be considered blessed I guess. We’d put it away to have later, and off to school we went.
That evening, we would have dinner with dad’s side of the family. It would typically be a potluck. Since many of his siblings had kids more or less of the same age as my brother and I, it was always guaranteed fun, but also, a good pay day. Because each of the cousins would give every other cousin a little red envelope we called fong pao with money in it. After filling our bellies with delicious food and our pockets with envelopes, it was time for the real fun. Firecrackers. Unlike in the West, Mauritians have free access to firecrackers. All kinds of them. The ones that popped on contact and the ones that needed to be lit up. Every chinese household would have a long roll of firecrackers. The longer the better. That one would be saved for last, and around midnight, you would hear these going off all around the country for a good 15 minutes. If you’ve never experienced those firecrackers, I’ll put a video link on the blog. We all wish each other Kung Shee Fat Choy, which is sort of happy new year, but if you’ve seen Ronnie Cheng’s special, you’ll know that it really means I wish you prosperity in the new year. I hope you get rich.
When we were teenagers, it became common for everyone to go clubbing. There were regular clubs but also Chinese social clubs where it was all ages. So, parents, grand parents and kids could be seen dancing through the night. As I got older, would often stay out till dawn with my cousins and friends.
In the morning, we’d come home to the streets covered in red paper flakes and the familiar smell of the firecrackers. It wasn’t over yet though. I’d have just enough time to take a good long shower and have a quick snack before donning my scout uniform and going to church to help set up for mass. It was the one day of the year that our church had mass in Mandarin. Most of us don’t actually understand Mandarin but we go anyway. After mass, I’d help serve snacks before going home to crash.
It is customary on New Year’s day to eat vegetarian, so my mom would always make her signature vegetarian stir fried vermicelli noodles with wood ear mushrooms, carrots, celery, shiitake mushrooms. Superstition has it that whatever you do on the first of the year, you will keep doing all year. So therefore you want to avoid chores that day, so that your year isn’t only hard work, and you want to wear new clothes to usher in prosperity. In the following days or weeks, we would visit elders, give them a red envelope, and wish them happy new year.
Deadlines:
Jan 25: Last day to send me your script/pitch by email.
Feb 01: Last day to send me your final recordings.
Feb 15: Episode goes live!
Recording
When you are ready to record, make sure you are in a quiet space where there is no background noise like TV, fan, or leaf blowers. If your audio has too much noise, I will not be able to accept your submission. In your car, in your garage is a good backup plan if your house isn’t quiet enough. Cars generally have good sound isolation when all the doors and windows are closed.
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