Chinese New Year's here.

It’s a time of receiving (or giving out) ang baos, visiting one relative after another, and feasting.

Or, to introverts, a time of fending off awkward questions, gluing on a smile to your face and talking to too many people, and going out again and again and again.

If that’s you, you’re in for a period of irritability, fatigue and the odd bout of mood swings. But don’t worry. We’ve got your back.

1. Have a Plan

Start planning your schedule - Who you are going to visit, who you can stand to talk to, or how to minimise social contact if you’re a hermit.

For each visit, plan how long you can bear talking to people, think about what they are going to say, how much you’re going to eat, and come up with clever answers beforehand.

2. Eats lots of food. And chew slowly.

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When it’s time to eat, sit down and focus squarely on enjoying your meal.

Chew carefully, keep your head down and savour each bite.

Let everybody else do the talking – they’ll tend to forget you amid the hubbub. This tends to work best in large groups and when you’re neither famous nor notorious.

3. Master the art of verbal taichi

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If you are cornered by someone, it’s likely to be an obnoxious relative with too many questions. Usually variations of “why you no girlfriend/boyfriend/wife/husband/children/grandchildren?”

Here, it’s time for some taichi:

Don’t answer directly. Redirect back to them, giving them an opening to babble about whatever’s on their mind.

So one answer could be, “Because too busy OT, have to make money, no time to do anything. You know how everything become more and more expensive these days right?”

Chances are good they start ranting away. Just nod, make some polite noises, and get away as soon as you can.

4. Keep your friends close

This. Exactly like this.

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If there are people you like among the crowd, stick close to them.

Talk to them. Have long, extended conversations wherever possible.

It also chopes them, signalling to everybody else not to butt in.

5. The Toilet is Your Best Friend

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When things get too much, take cover inside the nearest unoccupied toilet.

Lock the door, read a book, touch up makeup, do what you have to do to recharge your batteries.

6. Volunteer for saikang

They are only smiling ‘cause they do not have to put up with naggy relatives.

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If you are meeting relatives at their homes and you can’t stand things any more, volunteer to wash the dishes or clean up.

It’ll score brownie points with your family and the host – and, more importantly, take you away from everybody else.

7. When all else fails: Facebook!

The more you Facebook, the less they attention they pay to you. Probably.

Tablets and smartphones are everywhere.

If you’re in a social gathering, sooner or later someone will pull out a device for whatever reason.

Imitate them. Take selfies, take photos, tweet, post on Facebook, just do something else instead of talking to people.

Antisocial? Probably. But then, if you were feeling social why would you be doing this in the first place?

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