Chinese New Year, Spring Festival or the Lunar New Year, is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. In Chinese culture and Asian countries within Sinosphere, the festival is also commonly referred to as Spring Festival as the spring season in the lunisolar calendar traditionally starts with lichun, the first of the twenty-four solar terms which the festival celebrates around the time of the Lunar New Year.
The Qing Ming Festival (清明节), is a Chinese custom celebrated worldwide by people of many Asian cultures. Sometimes called Tomb Sweeping Day or the Pure Brightness Festival (pure brightness is the English translation of Qingming), it's an annual event to remember and honour ancestors and celebrate the warming weather. Qing Ming is more than honouring those who have passed. The early spring date makes it naturally a celebration of life, beauty and the season of renewal.
It is believed that the "good brothers" will be released from the "Hell Gates" during the Seventh Month to look for food, clothing and money. In general, devotees believe that praying and burning these offerings will help to appease these wandering souls and protect their families from harm.
During Chinese New Year, houses and people alike are decked in majestic shades of red, exchanging Ang Baos (red packets) and feasting on delicious festive treats together. To the average Singaporean, this is perhaps the quintessential way to celebrate the Chinese New Year.