2018 CNY Mandarin Oranges Competition. 2018年农历新年《年柑创意摆设竞赛》

（自创）
春风拂面正月到 儿孙千里终团圆
大红灯笼照大地 鞭炮齐鸣鼓喧天
除夕团聚乐欢畅 笑声处处迎新岁

Fresh spring breeze is blowing
It's time for the family gathered together
Red lanterns brighten up thousand of houses
Firecrackers are lit and drums can be heard
The joy of reunion filled the night of new year eve
Joyous laughter is everywhere to welcome the new year

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This is my entry for 2018 Chinese New Year Mandarin Orange Decoration Competition:
我的《年柑创意摆设竞赛》的参赛作品:

About my mandarin oranges decoration:
I made the firecrackers by using peeled mandarin oranges and also eight pieces of cheery blossoms with the skin on the mandarin oranges surround the firecrackers.

我的摆设解说
我用年柑果肉来摆设出鞭炮，同时也用了柑皮做出８朵新年最常见的梅花。

The cherry blossoms have a special significance to the Chinese. The 5 petals of cherry blossom symbolized joy, luck, longevity, fortune and peace. It's also the symbol of happiness too. Most of the Chinese will decorate their house with cherry blossom tree during Chinese New Year.

梅花象征五福梅花有五瓣，五片花瓣分别带表５种含义：快乐、幸运、长寿、顺利、太平。梅花是幸福的象征。新年期间常常都可见到家家户户有着梅花摆设，让整个屋内有了粉色和红色的梅花更加的有喜气。

Why 8 Cherry Blossoms?
In Chinese tradition, 8(Eight) considered to be auspicious. We pronounce it "Ba" in Chinese, and it's sounds like "Fa", which means fortune, wealth and prosperity. Most of the Chinese love number 8.

为什么８多梅花？
在华人传统里，８（八）是吉利数字。８发音为"Ba",和"Fa"发财的发其实真的很相近。“发”是代表财富，顺利和兴旺。大多数的华人都很爱‘８’号。

One of the Chinese New Year activities is to set off firecrackers to celebrate the arrival of Chinese New Year. Firecracker is so common but how many of us know about the history of it? Firecrackers and fireworks have been banned by the government many years ago but everyone is still celebrating with fireworks and firecrackers.

新年期间家家户户最常做的就是放鞭炮，来迎接全新的一年。无论使过年过节，只要是为了喜庆日子，我们华人都会点燃鞭炮来欢庆。但是到底有多少人知道鞭炮的历史呢？虽然多年前政府都严禁大家放鞭炮放烟花，但欢庆的气氛还是阻止不了大家放鞭炮放烟花。

Why Chinese New Year must have firecrackers?
Firecrackers were originally used to scare away evil spirits. As legend goes, in ancient time there's a monster called "Nian". Every Chinese New Year, Nian would come out to eat the villagers and destroy their home. Villagers discovered that burning bamboo could produce explosive sounds to scared away monster and keep themselves safe. As time passed, firecrackers were invented to replace the burning of bamboo.

为什么过年时一定要放鞭炮？
相传以前放鞭炮是为了驱赶怪兽。从前有个叫”年”的怪兽，半夜三更会出现在村子里，吃掉村民和毁掉他们的家园，搞得村民们都提心吊胆。之后有人发现原来燃烧竹子会发出哔哩吧啦的爆裂响声就能够把年兽给驱走。这也是所谓的”竹爆（报）平安”。慢慢的，随着时代的变化，现在就有了鞭炮来取代燃烧竹子了。

Why it's in red?
Red is found everywhere during Chinese new year. It symbolizes fortune and happiness for Chinese. Firecrackers are usually used for religious ceremonies.

为什么鞭炮都是红色的？
众所周知，红色是华人传统最爱的颜色。红色代表喜庆和吉祥。大多数华人传统祭拜仪式都会少不了放鞭炮来庆祝。

I used bamboo steamer to put the small sized mandarin oranges. It means becoming more and more prosperous (usually said of a business).

桌上也用了竹蒸笼来装小粒的年柑，代表着蒸蒸日上，意思是让我们家里人的事业能够更向上发展！

春(Chun) means spring in Chinese. Chinese new year is also called Spring Festival and it usually comes in during the spring time on the lunar calendar.

春是指春季。既是春节／农历正月的时候。

I don't have any photos of decorating process because I've to be quick whilst taking care of my little one. He's ready for the camera in the photo above :D

要同时间兼顾儿子和我的这盘年柑摆设还真的超费力气。你看人家整个人是坐上桌子露出什么样子？还摆好姿势让妈妈我拍照！