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I never knew there were so many rituals tied to the New Year beyond the larger, more public celebrations (big dinners, lion dances, etc.). My mom was very emphatic about getting all the cleaning and work on the house done before New Year’s Eve. And then there was Joyce H.’s recollection of how her family would leave a fish in the refrigerator until it got moldy for good luck. That must explain the way-past-expired head of cabbage and plate of green-fuzzed pineapple cake I saw at that store the other day. (I would have taken pictures but it wasn’t pretty, much less appetizing.) I’m going to go with Joyce’s explanation, since further research hasn’t yielded anything, but if anyone knows what the deal is with the moldy food, I’d love to know.

Joyce H. also mentions some other superstitions that surround Lunar New Year: No sweeping the floors on the day of, no cutting the hair for one
month (”cutting away the fortune”), no purchasing shoes for a month. I
think you’re also suppose to wear new clothes on New Year’s Day too.