WHILE THE Gregorian new year is all about going out, the lunar equivalent is all about staying in. Almost all Chinese families congregate at home on New Year's Eve to eat a 'reunion dinner' and bid farewell to the old year. Then over the following fortnight a steady stream of family and friends will visit or 'bai lin', bearing edible gifts and lai see packets.
In anticipation of the familial onslaught, homes are spruced from top to bottom, walls are given fresh licks of paint and floors are waxed and polished. 'Out with the old and in with the new' is the principal mantra and traditionally you are supposed to replace anything in the home that's chipped, torn or broken. Sharp implements such as scissors or knives are banished to avoid 'cutting the luck of the new year'.
If you don't have family in Hong Kong, but are fortunate enough to have a harbour view, you may simply want to decorate for a fireworks viewing party (Victoria Harbour, 8pm on January 25. Event to be confirmed: check Hong Kong Visitor Hotline for details, tel: 2508 1234).
Red and gold (symbolising happiness and prosperity respectively) are the traditional New Year colours but tricky to incorporate in an interior without seeming gaudy. All or nothing is the only approach: either use subtly with red napkins and gold-rimmed crockery or go for the full-on Raise-the-Red-Lantern bordello look with red voile curtain panels and gold tablecloths.
'Fai chun' - rhyming classical Chinese couplets written on red paper - are the traditional way to decorate the home at Lunar New Year. These rectangular or diamond-shaped slips contain good sentiments for the coming year and originate from pieces of peach wood (the most potent enemy of demons) traditionally painted red to ward off evil spirits.
For instant party atmosphere, attach the red banners on to a length of ribbon and hang like bunting across a room. In traditional homes you often see them plastered messily across walls and furniture. A more contemporary approach would be to equally space the couplets en masse on a bare wall. You can find couplets and other Chinese New Year decorations at all local stationers. Fook Sang Cheung Joss Company (G/F, 14 Peel Street, Central. Tel: 2532 3109) has an excellent selection of couplets (from $6) as well as lanterns (from $1 to $90), ornamental firecrackers (from $10 to $230) and a wide range of incense in natural scents such as sandalwood and artifical ones such as rose and jasmine (from $3 for 45 sticks).