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CNY guide: Is sending New Year greetings an unnecessary etiquette?

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The Chinese New Year has arrived, and here's a beginner's guide for those who don't really know about the holiday. The first thing Chinese people do is to send New Year greetings to family, friends, colleagues, their boss, and even people they just meet at the grocery store. In Chinese, we call it "bai'nian," it means to wish each other luck.

Now, as we are entering the digital age, a lot of people choose not to do the greetings in person any more. Instead, many prefer to do it virtually: send a text, or an emoji. So, the question then comes, is sending the greetings in person a piece of meaningless etiquette?

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