As Chinese New Year approaches, people throughout the world are gearing up for celebrations. Sarah Foster finds out about the festival and its traditions.

I'M sitting in a reception on the campus of Sunderland University, listening to a convoluted debate. Ding Lan, who for the past seven years, has organised the Chinese New Year event, is deep in conversation with Sandra McLuckie, another member of staff. There's the matter of publicity, and who should be a point of contact, not to mention who's taking the money. As the biggest night in the Chinese social calendar, it's vital that everything goes right.

The celebration, at the student nightclub Manor Quay, is one of many taking place throughout the region to mark Sunday's start of the New Year. Ding Lan hopes it will involve the whole community. "Last year there were about 350 people - staff, students and some members of the public - but this year we're hoping to widen access to allow more people to join our celebrations," she says. "We are actively opening this event to the public."

Ding Lan says the gathering, on New Year's Eve, will run along traditional lines. "There will be a Chinese lion dance, some traditional Chinese entertainment, martial arts, karaoke, Chinese music and a meal," she says. "We always invite the mayor, council officers, and the governors from the City of Sunderland College."

For the university's 500 Chinese students, the celebration is more than just a party - it's a link with life back home. Ding Lan, an international business support manager, is only too aware of this. "Chinese people tend to celebrate this festival worldwide," she says. "For international students, especially Chinese students studying here, it's probably a time when they feel most homesick, so this event is an important way of supporting our students."

Having lived here for the past ten years, Ding Lan herself is used to being away from China for the New Year. Now 37, she came to Sunderland to do a PhD and met and married Richard, a graduate who also comes from China. While she's firmly settled in the region, where she's bringing up her baby son, she's stayed true to her roots.

"I think I've got a very strong Chinese background," she says. "Chinese New Year is very important to me. I'm very pleased that this year my parents will be able to join us - normally, I have to rely on phone calls."

A typical New Year's Eve in China involves the family tuning in to CCTV (China Central Television) to watch the national celebrations. Ding Lan says it's always a big event. "There will be firecrackers and fireworks when the clock strikes 12. It's really quite phenomenal," she says. "In many places in China, there will be demonstrations of lion dancing on the streets."

As it follows the lunar cycle, the date of New Year varies - it can fall anywhere from now to early February. Ding Lan says it's highly symbolic to the Chinese. "Chinese New Year means 'spring festival'," she says. "We think it's the start of the year and the start of the spring. You're not supposed to do anything unlucky or say any unlucky words - you can't say 'death', for example. You're supposed to do all the cleaning before the New Year because it's bad luck on New Year's Day."

The Chinese calendar, like the zodiac, has 12 divisions based on animals. Each division lasts a year and the animal under which you're born is thought to shape your personality. Ding Lan says if it's your animal's year, you should be conscious of your luck. "Our understanding is you should wear something red for the whole year to keep off the evil spirits," she says. "It can be red underwear, a red belt, or even red socks."

Like most celebrations, Chinese New Year is marked by eating festive foods. Ding Lan says families come together to enjoy a meal. "New Year's Eve is a time for family reunions," she says. "People meet up and have the New Year's Eve feast. Traditional Chinese New Year food can vary from place to place. People in the north will make dumplings. In the south, people often eat 'nian gao' (glutinous rice cakes) which, in phonetics, are the same words for 'higher and higher every year'."

Whatever else is served, there's one thing no feast should be without. "There must be fish," says Ding Lan. "You have to put out the fish but you either don't eat it or you have to leave some, because it sounds similar in phonetics to a phrase which means you have savings."

In the focus on a festive meal, as in many other respects, Chinese New Year resembles Christmas. While we put up decorations, people in China fill their homes with flowers. Ding Lan says they also give each other presents. "We give money to children and young unmarried people," she says. "It goes from the higher generation to the lower one - you wouldn't give money to your parents, for example. People also exchange gifts. It could be anything - people spend a lot of money."

Ding Lan admits that as time goes by, some New Year traditions are being eroded. In China, as in the West, commercialisation has taken hold, and with greater affluence, many go out to restaurants on New Year's Eve.

Yet for Ding Lan, some things will never change. "The traditional Chinese dress is called Qi Pao and every year as a treat, I buy myself a new one," she says. "I'll be wearing it for the celebrations."

* The Sunderland Chinese New Year event will be held at Manor Quay, near St Peter's campus, Sunderland, from 6-9pm on Saturday. Tickets cost £9 or £7 for students, including a meal and entertainment. For more information, ring Sandra McLuckie on 0191-515 3550.