Welcome To the Year of Sheep!
Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in the Chinese calendar. The celebration for this holiday expands over days and people travel from different parts of the world to be with their families. The year 2015 is the 4713th Chinese year. Each year is signified by an animal and each is said to have its own personality traits. Sheep is an auspicious animal in Chinese tradition. It is considered to bring in luck and prosperity. It stands for the element of earth in the 5 distinct elements Air, Fire, Water, Earth and Ether. So it is the year of Earth Angels that bring in stability and fortune in life. Let’s identify the positive and earthy traits of a sheep – calm, composed and graceful.  

So what are some important elements associated with this holiday? We’ll cover some that are also important to be represented in ecards.

1) Color – Red. This color symbolizes good luck or fortune and is widely used by the community not only for the festival but at any auspicious event. Hence cards must reflect these colors for people to appreciate them visually.

2) Symbolic Animal –  Each year is represented by an animal and that signifies the personality of the people born in those years. 2015 is the year of the sheep and hence ecards must encompass this important element in them.

3) Fireworks: Fireworks are integral to new year and the same applies to Chinese New Year. Apart from fireworks what is popular in their tradition are air lanterns that float in the air.

4) Family reunions – This is customary with the Chinese. People travel long distances to be with family on this holiday. As such ecards must have wishes that can be sent to family and be able to express their emotions aptly.

5) Food – No family reunion is complete without food and as such family dinners and feast are a core part of the holiday. Ecards can represent such traditions in their ecards such as tossing of the salad to be unique and traditional in some way.

6) Chinese symbols – For the ecard to be authentic in look and feel they must include Chinese symbols such as the Chinese year  – in this case 4713, Mandarin symbols, dragons, lanterns etc.

Cheers to the start of a great New Year!