Celebrating the Spring Festival
Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, is the most important festival in China and for Chinese communities worldwide. It marks the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. The celebration is a time to honor deities and ancestors, and to feast and gather with family.
The festival marks the end of winter and the start of spring. It's a time for sweeping away ill-fortune and making way for incoming good luck.
The date is determined by the lunar calendar and falls between January 21st and February 20th. The celebrations traditionally last for 15 days.
The most important aspect of the festival is the family reunion. People travel great distances to be with their loved ones for the New Year's Eve dinner.
Many Chinese New Year traditions are rooted in the ancient legend of a fearsome beast named Nian. This monster would emerge from the sea on New Year's Eve to terrorize villages.
Taming the Beast
The villagers discovered that the Nian was afraid of three things: the color red, loud noises, and fire. So, on New Year's Eve, they began to hang red lanterns and scrolls on their doors, wear red clothes, and light firecrackers and make loud noises with drums. The Nian was scared away, and the village was safe. This practice continues to this day, with red decorations, firecrackers, and lion dances used to ward off bad luck and welcome a year of prosperity.
Each year in the Chinese calendar is associated with one of twelve animals in a repeating cycle. According to legend, the Jade Emperor challenged the animals to a great race to decide their order in the zodiac. The current year, 2025, is the Year of the Snake.
Rat
Ox
Tiger
Rabbit
Dragon
Snake
Horse
Goat
Monkey
Rooster
Dog
Pig
The New Year period is filled with traditions and superstitions aimed at attracting good luck, prosperity, and happiness for the year ahead.
Married couples and elders give red envelopes containing money to children and unmarried adults to pass on good fortune.
Homes are thoroughly cleaned before the New Year to sweep away bad luck and make room for good luck to enter.
These traditional dances are performed in the streets to the beat of drums and cymbals to chase away evil spirits and bring good luck.
The New Year's Eve dinner is the most important meal, where families gather to share a lavish feast of symbolic dishes.
Food plays a crucial role in Chinese New Year celebrations, with many dishes chosen for their symbolic meanings, often based on their names or appearances.