Tangerines and Chinese New Year

Did you know that tangerines are good luck symbols for the Chinese New Year? It's true. The Chinese word for tangerines sounds like the word for luck - so it's traditional to give out tangerines (and oranges & pomelos, according to this website). I've gotten tangerines from my Asian coworkers for new years before - they're really yummy. Chinese New Year is February 3rd this year and we'll be entering the year of the rabbit.

If tangerines don't grow where you live - in California all the orange and tangerine trees are laden with fruit right now, but Seattle doesn't have much in the way of citrus - perhaps you could consider our Tangerine-Clove lollipops as a substitute. (Hopefully clove doesn't counteract the good luck symbolism in Chinese - nothing I could find on the internet said it did. Wikipedia says it's contraindicated in Chinese medicine for people with fire symptoms.)

Happy Chinese New Year!