Chinese New Year is the time of the year when you’ll see rows of shops and streets decorated with red papers and lanterns.

You’ll also hear some repetitive Chinese New Year songs and loud firecrackers every now and then.

But did you know that in preparation for the new lunar year, there are a number of superstitions that the Chinese follow?

1. No washing or cutting your hair

It is believed that if you wash your hair on New Year’s day, you’d also be washing away all your luck. It’s somewhat similar to if you cut your hair, you’d be cutting your life shorter!

If you want to avoid all that, make sure you schedule for a hair appointment at your regular hair saloon to get your new haircut and wash your hair a day before New Year.

But if you really can’t stand the idea of not washing your hair, use a dry shampoo on the first day of New Year instead.

2. Don’t sweep your luck away

This is one of the most popular superstitions; you’re not supposed to sweep the floors on New Year’s day. By doing so, you’d be sweeping away all the luck and fortunes!

So, apart from the importance of keeping the house clean no matter what day it is, that’s one of the reasons why most Chinese families traditionally ensure that their homes are spotlessly clean before New Year.

The broom deserves to take a break on New Year’s day too you know...

3. No black and white

The colour “red” is a lucky colour in the Chinese culture, hence the reason why the Chinese hand out red ang pow packets and decorate red tanglungs in their homes. It is also the colour believed to scare away spirits or prevent bad fortune.

It is a huge taboo to be wearing black and white attire as this is associated with the clothing that one would wear at a funeral. Hence, go shopping and get yourself a pair of red or brightly-coloured clothes to join in the festive mood!

4. Exchange “gold” with your family and friends

Now, unless you’re a millionaire, this superstition doesn’t sound like something you can actually follow, right?

Although, you can however, replace the gold with mandarin oranges instead. You see, a mandarin orange is called “kam” in Cantonese which is homophonic to the word “gold” in Cantonese, so you’re basically exchanging “gold” with your family and friends if you use mandarin oranges!

While you’re feeling rich, make sure that the oranges are exchanged in pairs to be in line with the saying, “good things come in pairs.”

5. Start with a clean state

This is a tough one to follow, especially for those who are in heavy debts!

It is believed that if you start the New Year with debts, you won’t be able to accumulate your wealth. You might be in debt all year long and your debt problems will be never-ending.

Try to clear off your debts before the New Year. Start by identifying the smaller debts that you might have. For example, you can easily check your status and clear your outstanding debts / summons to the government through MyPay.

Whether you believe in these superstitions or not, there is no harm in keeping these unique traditions alive. Plus, it kinda does make sense to:

• Not go to the hair saloon on New Year’s day (since it’ll be closed anyway)
• Make sure that the house is super clean on New Year’s day (since you’ll host plenty of guests)
• Wear beautiful, new clothes (so that you’ll look good on New Year’s day, duh!)
• Exchange mandarin oranges with family and friends (they taste delicious, so why not?)
• And, more importantly, settle all your debts before the New Year (because if you let those debts accumulate then you’ll never be able to settle them)!

MyPay Team wishes everyone Gong Xi Fa Cai! May this be a debt-free year for you filled with prosperity and good luck!