The Tradition of Exchanging ‘Gold’

It happens only once a year

Photo by Ching Ching-MandarinOrange Sprigs — Photo by Author-Orange Twigs

The only time I eat oranges is during Chinese New Year (CNY), and they’re not the usual ones. They’re called Mandarin Oranges.

These oranges are symbolic during our festival because, in Cantonese dialect, it means GOLD. 😉

As a tradition, we exchange oranges aka GOLD and wish the receiver (family/friend) happiness and good fortune. Oranges must be given in even numbers — two, six, eight, ten, etc. Four is forbidden! Except for enemies/competitors.

Since this GOLD is a tradition, they are expansive during the festival. So, I germinate and grow two mandarin orange seeds. It’s been five months. I have two twigs to show.

2022 Chinese New Year is 8 months away. 😯

Alex Deacon, Will it be in time to bear barrels of ‘gold’ for me? 🤑

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