The Celebration of Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival. This is China’s and one of South East Asia’s most important holidays for families as it includes 16 days of celebrating. Chinese New Year is celebrated widely in Taiwan and across Southeast Asia in countries with large Chinese populations, such as Singapore, the Philippines, and Malaysia. In Korea, the Lunar New Year is called Seollal; in Vietnam, Tet; and in Tibet, Losar. Chinese New Year is popularly known as the Spring Festival in China as it marks the end of winter and the beginning of summer. Chinese New Year focuses on family reunions, honoring ancestors, and welcoming good fortune. This holiday can be set back to about 3,500 years ago as Chinese New Year has evolved over this span of time with a long developmental process.
The date of the holiday is mainly determined by the traditional Chinese calendar, a lunisolar calendar that blends solar, lunar, and other cycles. The holiday falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice on December 21. Each year the New Year in China falls on a different date than on the Gregorian calendar. The dates usually range sometime between January 21 and February 20.

One of the most popular ways of celebrating this holiday is by spending time with family and watching the lion and The Dragon dance, performed by professional dancers to bring prosperity and good luck for the upcoming year or event. This is widely seen in China and various other countries which celebrate. Family reunions are very important as they reunite and gather for a lavish feast, which can include certain foods including fish and dumplings. Red is associated with life-generating energy such as the sun and fire. It is also the colour of celebration and prosperity. It is an important colour used in decorations and in some foods as red lanterns and red couplets with calligraphy can bring luck and joy. As the colour red symbolizes prosperity and energy, this can be known to ward off evil spirits and negativity. People tend to thoroughly clean their homes before the new year, this symbolizes sweeping away the bad luck from the preceding year and prepares their homes to gain good luck. Honoring the dead is an important tradition that has been kept for centuries as they visit their ancestors' graves and offer food as sacrifices to show that they “eat” first. Red envelopes (or red packets, lìshì or lai see in Cantonese). Red envelopes have money in and are often given to children and (retired) seniors. People who receive these envelopes wish for another safe, healthy, and peaceful year.

Each Chinese year is associated with an animal sign according to the Chinese zodiac cycle. 2027 is the year of the goat.

Year Date of Chinese New Year Animal Sign
2027 February 6 Goat
2028 January 26 Monkey
2029 February 13 Rooster
2030 February 3 Dog
2031 January 23 Pig
2032 February 11 Rat
2033 January 31 Ox
2034 February 19 Tiger
2035 February 8 Rabbit

Chinese New Year is not only celebrated in China's mainland but also in various other regions and countries influenced by Chinese traditions and with ethnic Chinese populations.