Kokova Magazine

Need an excuse to party in January? Chinese New Year is the biggest Chinese celebration there is, lasting for 15 days starting on 31st January 2014. To celebrate, red envelopes containing monetary gifts are traditionally given to friends and family at the start of the New Year in China, where the red colour is said to bring luck and ward off evil spirits.

This Chinese New Year, London's leading dim sum and cocktail restaurant, Ping Pong, will give away thousands of lucky red envelopes, while also offering a limited edition seasonal menu - including Shanghainese noodles, Tapioca Pearls cocktail and Chaozhou Vegetable dumplings.

To celebrate Chinese New Year and welcome the Year of the Horse, Ping Pong has collaborated with exclusive partners for their Lucky Red Envelope give-away. Wendy Wu Tours, the V&A, the National Theatre and many more have joined Ping Pong to ensure that every envelope includes a special gift.

The envelopes will be available for a limited time from January 31st to February 7th and will contain generous gifts - including a once-in-a-lifetime ten day holiday to China, courtesy of Wendy Wu Tours, the UK's leading China holiday specialist tour operator.

Other gifts include partnerships with: -

• The National Theatre
• Time Out London
• The Victoria and Albert Museum
• Tate Modern
• British Museum
• Madame Tussauds
• NailGirls London
• Canton Tea
• Plus meals and cocktails at Ping Pong

As London's leading dim sum restaurant Ping Pong know how to welcome the New Year in style with authentic dishes and delicious artisan cocktails. The Limited Edition Chinese New Year menu is available until April and includes: -

• Pork and Mushroom Sticky Rice Dumplings - Shanghainese glutinous rice dumpling with shiitake mushroom, ham hock and spring onion in wheat flour pastry
• Crispy Squid - Squid in a light, crispy coating with hints of lemongrass and chilli sichuan dusting, served with spicy mango sauce
• Chaozhou Vegetable and Peanut Dumpling - Mushrooms, carrot, coriander, chive, radish with crunchy peanuts in carrot pastry
• Shanghai Pork Noodles - Pork in bean sauce, coriander, tofu, spring onion with hints of chilli over fresh Shanghainese noodles
• Chocolate Coconut Fondant - Warm pudding with a soft chocolate and coconut filling, served with vanilla ice cream

Head Mixologist Daniele Ziaco has also created a unique polka-dot cocktail, the Dancing Dragon. Made with kalamansi (a sour orange-like tropical fruit), white coconut milk and lychee juice, the cocktail is dotted with black tapioca pearls that burst as you bite into them, releasing a sweet hit to the palate. The Dancing Dragon is served as a mocktail, or is mixed with Finlandia vodka and Sake.

For an exciting and extended Chinese New Year experience, diners can visit any of Ping Pong's locations in London. Enjoy a cocktail, share steaming baskets of dim sum, and open a lucky red envelope. There's more to Chinese cuisine than prawn crackers, so gather your friends together and start the year as you mean to go on!

Visit www.pingpongdimsum.com to get your celebrations started.

Tweet @pingpongdimsum Facebook @ PingPongDimSum

If, on the other hand, you decide to stay at home and are looking to create your own New Year atmosphere then China's number one beer export, Tsingtao has some cool party tips on how to host your own party to bring in the Year of the Horse.

Made with 100% natural ingredients, Tsingtao is a golden liquid, brewed with rice and Laoshan Mountain spring water. Its refreshing taste and clean flavour make it ideal served with food, especially spicy dishes. Tsingtao is stocked in all major supermarkets across the UK.

Once the beer's on ice, invite family and friends and follow these tips for a fabulous party: -

• Clean Your Home - according to Chinese tradition, cleaning the house will 'sweep away bad luck' which may have accumulated inside over the past year and the clean house is then ready for good luck to start entering again
• Decorate - red lanterns, streamers and balloons are ideal, red is the main celebratory colour and symbolises good luck. Try to arrange decorations in quantities of eight, as it is a very lucky number in Chinese folklore
• Cook - create your own Chinese cuisine at home, healthier than a takeaway and your guests will be impressed. There are some easy to cook, authentic Chinese recipes which are ideal for entertaining
• Firecrackers - to really make your party go with a bang, set off some firecrackers, which are said to scare bad spirits away

For Chinese recipes and further information about Chinese culture and Tsingtao Beer, please visit www.tsingtaobeer.co.uk

Follow @TsingtaoUK