FOR most of us it was a rat of a year we were glad to see the back of – but for the Chinese 2020 was the Year of the Rat, which was meant to bring wealth and surplus.

And despite being in the early throes of coronavirus they celebrated en masse, with the Chinese diaspora around the world all joining in – before March and lockdowns hit home.

A year on and this festival of fun, which blows our end-of-the-year celebrations out of the water by lasting a full 15 days – from New Year’s Eve, Thursday, February 11, to Friday, February 26 – will be different from any before.

While public events have been cancelled here and gone virtual for the first time, the colour will not be dulled, the music silenced nor the dance stopped.

This year is the turn of the ox, which symbolises strength and determination. It is a good sign for our times, explains Youling Sun, vice-chair of the Edinburgh branch of the Scotland China Association.

Youling, a 55-year-old translator with Heriot-Watt University, came here in 1994 from Shandong province and lives in Liberton, Edinburgh.

She will be holding a small family new year celebration with her husband, her niece and her husband and their household.

She said: “There is usually a celebration in the big cities and especially in Edinburgh, with a big public event at the Usher Hall with hundreds of people there, a big banquet, entertainment and lion dancing.

“This year will be the first year without it and it will be very strange. I usually host a big banquet myself for all my friends and family here but this year is the first year I’m not organising it because we can’t see each other, we can’t break the rules.

“We will definitely celebrate it somehow by exchanging food and stuff, but we can’t gather.”

For Youling and the greater Chinese community it is a small sacrifice for the greater good and a discipline which she believes serves us all well.

She added: “The most important thing is to get over Covid. It’s only one year and there is always next year to look forward to.

“The way that Christmas was celebrated here in the UK last year would never have happened like that in China. People would never have gathered like that and risk lives, it doesn’t make sense to us.

“Because what is more important than life? It is a patriotic duty. There was a song in China, like I am staying in here to love you. We are actually doing the opposite. I am not visiting you because I love you.

“I think following the ox is what we need to do to get through 2021. The ox perseveres and is patient.”

So let’s plough on and take inspiration in the Chinese New Year celebrations that will still go on this month.

Online the Ricefield Arts and Cultural Centre (www.ricefield.org.uk) in Glasgow will showcase all things Chinese on February 26, from 7.30pm to 8.30pm) with an event which will endeavour to pack in dance, music, martial arts and more. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.

The organisers, who are pairing up with the Confucius Institute for Scotland’s Schools, will take us on a magical mystery tour of the traditions and history of China’s most important annual festival.

Shengnan Qiu will give a demonstration of the two-stringed bowed erhu musical instrument; Lawrence Dunn will play the sheng, an ancient Chinese mouth pipe; Eddie McGuire will display the dizi Chinese flute; Fong Liu will sing traditional Chinese songs; Annie Au will encourage us to take part in Fan Dance, a dance with fans, and Xiaochun Shen will bring us the poetry of the Far East.

And if you want something a bit more energetic, then Pui Lee will throw shapes with a Kung Fu demonstration, while if you want something a bit more chilled then Hing Fung will hold a tai chi class.

SO, Chinese New Year is your cup of tea, then? Better still, then, learn all about Chinese tea brewing from Shanshan Jiang.

While Chinese New Years can be celebrated in spectacular public style with beautifully decorated dragons, people dressed in costumes and fireworks, they are also commemorated in private too.

The Chinese favour fish and dumplings on New Year’s Eve, which is believed to encourage prosperity, while noodle soup is the preferred food for the big day itself.

And there is nothing quiet about the festival either in music, dance or clothing, with black and white thought to be bad omens and colourful clothing promoted.

The 2021 Chinese New Year will certainly be different from any that Youling Sun or any of her compatriots living in Scotland have seen before, but the message in this Year of the Ox is as strong as ever…

Xinnián kuàilè (Happy New Year).