Chinese New Year: What Is Lunar New Year and How Is It Celebrated?

Today many will ring in the Lunar New Year, celebrating the Year of the Tiger and bidding farewell to the Year of the Ox.

Also known as the Chinese New Year, the annual celebration is an important date for many people across the globe, with up to 2 billion people celebrating worldwide.

The celebrations have particular prominence across China and East Asia, where many gather to usher in a prosperous and lucky new year, honor ancestors and deities, hold parades and firework displays, and ward off evil spirits.

Here's everything you need to know about the Lunar New Year.

When Is Chinese New Year?

Cultures across Asia traditionally follow the lunar calendar, as opposed to the Gregorian solar calendar followed across much of the world.

Therefore, the Lunar New Year falls on a different date of the Gregorian calendar each year.

Celebrations of the Chinese New Year traditionally last two weeks, with the two most prominent celebrations on New Year's Eve and New Year's Day.

The first seven days of the new year are public holidays in China.

The annual festivities end on the first full moon of the year, with the celebration of the Lantern Festival.

The festival is held on day 15 of the first month of the lunar calendar, meaning it will be celebrated on February 15 this year.

How Do People Celebrate Lunar New Year?

Traditionally, festivities and preparations begin in the month leading up to the New Year. Like last year, the COVID-19 pandemic has curtailed many celebrations across the globe.

The week leading up to the New Year brings the arrival of festive cakes and puddings known as "gao" in Mandarin. The festive cakes are baked on day 26 of the last lunar month and are believed to provide growth and improvements in the coming New Year.

Following the festive cakes, many also thoroughly clean their homes on day 28 of the final lunar month. This tradition is said to banish any bad luck that may have accumulated in one's home over the last year.

People often gather with their families and decorate their houses in red and gold, as the colors are believed to bring good luck in several East Asian countries. Children are often given money in bright red envelopes to ring in the New Year.

Family gatherings are a staple of the Lunar New Year celebrations, with people often traveling thousands of miles to visit relatives.

New Year's meals are also an important part of the celebrations, and traditional dishes associated with prosperity and luck are enjoyed, such as fish, dumplings, and puddings.

As the Lunar New Year is held across a number of countries including Vietnam, Singapore, Mongolia, Korea and others, traditions can vary.

There are also traditions that people must avoid doing during the New Year celebrations.

For instance, cutting or washing your hair on the first day of the new year is believed to bring bad fortune, as the Chinese character for "hair" is the same as the first character in the word for "prosper", and doing so is thought to wash off any good fortune.

Additionally, many say that you should not buy new shoes in the first month of the year since the word for shoes sounds like the Cantonese word for "losing."

What Is the Year of The Tiger?

In the Lunar Calendar, each year is associated with one of the 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac.

2022 is the Year of the Tiger, it is said that children born this year will be brave, strong and competitive and often believed to be natural leaders.

This is due to the fact that the tiger is seen to be the king of the jungle in many Asian countries.

The last Year of the Tiger was in 2010.

Some famous faces who were born in previous Years of the Tiger include Tom Cruise, Fidel Castro, Marilyn Monroe, Lady Gaga and Queen Elizabeth II.