Getting into the festive spirit when it comes to decorating your home this Spring Festival can make your place look great, but might also change your luck when it comes to happiness, prosperity and good fortune this year.

The Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, is the time for fireworks and crackers, sparkling lights, sumptuous feasts and colorful and festive New Year decorations.
According to the Chinese lunar calendar, the festival falls on January 29 this year.

After cleaning their houses both inside and out, Chinese people traditionally begin decorating their rooms to reflect an atmosphere of joy and festive fun.

Some plaster calligraphy of Chinese characters with meanings centered around happiness on their doors, as well as individual characters which bring blessing, longevity, luckiness and prosperity in the New Year.

Some paste paper-cuttings on gates, windows, walls and lamps, in order to bring good luck to their families.

Others will fill their homes with flowers, fruit and trays of sweets, as these are symbols of hope and prosperity.

This year, we bring you a list of places to go to pick up all the New Year decorations and gifts you need to leave your home looking both smart and unique.

If traditional Chinese handicrafts are your thing, head to Taikang Road, where you'll find a charming assortment of renovated lanes and warehouses.

The tiny There Art Studio deals mainly in Shannxi Province's traditional folk handicrafts.

A wide collection of artifacts can be found in the store, including vivid clay figurines, exquisite paper-cuttings, refined traditional New Year paintings, lovely cloth products, all of which are Shannxi Province specialties.

One of the most popular pieces in the shop is a cloth tiger, priced from 120 yuan (US$14.81) to 320 yuan. Such pieces are one of China's best-loved folk art features, as Chinese people regard the tiger as a symbol that wards off evil and protects wealth. People also make these cloth tigers to prevent illness and bring luckiness at Spring Festival.

The materials used and procedures employed in making them vary. Usually, people take a piece of cotton or silk and fill it with sawdust or a kind of course grain.

Then they color or draw on the silk, or embroider, cut or patch it to give the tiger a facial outline and decorative pattern.

Tigers are often made with enlarged heads, big eyes, big mouths and big tails to show their courage and power.

Smaller children will also take great delight in wearing little tiger shoes.

Esydragon on Taikang Road has various tiger shoes on sale.

Tiger shoes are commonly found on babies' feet in rural China even today. The shoes are entirely made of cloth with the toes made into the shape of a tiger's head.

These beautiful hand-sewn shoes are thought to carry within them magical wishes for protection and this is why Chinese parents make their children wear them.

The fierce tiger faces, invoking the energy of the king of the beasts, was often used on children's clothing to frighten away evil, as well as to bring the strength and courage of the tiger to the wearer.

These little shoes can also brighten your home as they make a wonderful, whimsical wall or bookcase decoration.

Simply Life and Shanghai Pin also sell an elegant assortment of Chinese decorative items, such as table covers, embroidered cushions and Chinese candles.

A quick stroll around the Xiangyang Fashion And Gift Market or Yu Garden also reveals an array of all the usual items such as spring couplets at lower prices.

You can add elements of the New Year just by buying a lantern in reference to the Lantern Festival, which falls on February 12 this year, that ends the 15-day long celebration.

Every Chinese household should also feature live, blossoming plants to symbolize rebirth and new growth. Flowers are believed to be symbolic of wealth and high positions in one's career.

Lucky is the home with a plant that blooms on New Year's Day, for that foretells a year of prosperity.

In more elaborate settings, plum blossoms just starting to bloom are arranged with bamboo and pine sprigs.

The plum blossom signifies reliability and perseverance; the evergreen pine evokes longevity and steadiness.

Also, oranges and tangerines are symbols for abundant happiness.

In the week before the New Year, special flower markets devoted to New Year blossoms open around the city.

You can walk around flower markets to find potted picks of the festive season.

A bowl of oranges in the dining room table, a red scroll, a Chinese lantern -- it doesn't have to be expensive. But adding just that little something can help you feel the hope and excitement of the coming New Year.

There Art Studio
Address: 14, Lane 210, Taikang Road
Tel: 6473-1134