6 Bizarre Birthday Superstitions in Chinese Traditions You May Not Know

Your elderly will expect you to follow many cultures and superstitions if born into a traditional Chinese family. It happens at important events like Chinese New year, weddings, birthdays and many more.

Birthdays are part and parcel of our life that happens once a year. But do you know that there are some traditional practices to follow too?

1. Do not Celebrate More than Once Every Year

The Chinese people have two birth dates, the western one and the lunar one, but you should choose only one date to celebrate. It is because they believed that the number of times you blow off the candles, the number of age increases.

2. Serve yourself with Auspicious Food

Long noodles, also known as longevity noodle and red egg, is always prepared for the birthday girl/boy. As the name mentioned, the long noodle is a blessing to wish the birthday girl or boy a long life. The red egg symbolises a new beginning after you remove the shell.

For those celebrating their 60th birthday, it is a common practice to send peaches as a gift to bless them with longevity.

3. Choosing and Giving the Right Gift

There are many essential rules in giving a gift, and to name some:

– The gift must be wrapped in lucky colour like red to symbolize blessing. Avoid giving gifts wrapped in black colour as it symbolizes death.

– Please do not give a clock or watch as it represents paying the last respect to the dead.

– Avoid giving shoes because it implies walking away from a relationship.

If you are interested in other gift-giving dos and don’ts, find out more in the Chinese Gift Giving Superstitions.

You can always take the universal method if you are still confused about what to give. For example, give a red packet (Hong Bao) that symbolizes blessing with good fortune.

4. Birthday in the Ghost Month

If your birthday fall in the lunar 7th month, also known as ghost month, avoid celebrating at night. It will be better to celebrate during the daytime.

5. Advanced or Belated Celebration?

It would be best to be sincere if you celebrate your birthdays in advance or actual day. If you are celebrating a late birthday, it feels like it has been two birthdays, increasing your age to two years more.

6. Chinese Birthday Ending With 9 is Bad

According to some traditions, it is best to avoid celebrating Chinese birthdays ending with 9, for example, 9, 19, 29, 39, 49, 59 and so on. The elderly believe they would meet with misfortune and might cause death if they do so.

Are you being raised with these bizarre Chinese birthday traditions? If you have more birthday traditions and superstitions from cultures around the globe, please share them with us too.