Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year 2011 in Southeast China on February 3, 2011

The Chinese New Year, also called the Spring Festival, is the most important holiday for ethnic Chinese people all around the world. The Chinese calendar and dates are traditionally based on changes of the moon, not the sun. The New Year starts at the beginning of this lunar (moon) calendar, and ends with Lantern Festival which is on the 15th day.

The Chinese New Year is celebrated for fifteen days. On the holiday's eve, families come together to eat a meal in the evening. This meal is called the reunion dinner. No matter how far away they are, Chinese people will try to visit with their families at least this one time of the year. not only enjoying the meal, but also watching a New Year Eve's gala with family members.

In 2013, Chinese New Year is on February 10.

Early new year

Chinese people visit their grandparents, parents, friends and relatives during the first few days of the New Year. The older and married people give the younger ones red paper packets called hongbao in Mandarin (Lai See in Cantonese). This packet has money inside it.

Chinese people wear new clothes when they go on visits. This clothing is usually red in color. They also say special phrases to wish other people good luck when they see them.

They also exchange mandarin oranges for good luck.

Late new year

The last day of the New Year celebration is called the Lantern Festival, or the Yuanxiao. On this day, families cook dumplings made of sticky rice. They eat them in a sweet soup. There are also many beautiful lanterns that decorate the streets in China and Chinatowns. Traditionally, on this day, adults can choose a partner. Long ago in China, this would have been one of the few days when women of rich families were allowed to go outside their houses with their maids.

Beginning

Animal	Branch	Dates		More Dates
鼠 Rat	子 Zi	February 19, 1996	February 7, 2008	January 25, 2020
牛 Ox	丑 Chou	February 7, 1997	January 26, 2009	February 14, 2021
虎 Tiger	寅 Yin	January 28, 1998	February 14, 2010	February 25, 2022
兔 Rabbit	卯 Mao	February 16, 1999	February 3, 2011	January 27, 2023
龍 Dragon	辰 Chen	February 5, 2000	January 23, 2012	February 14, 2024
蛇 Snake	巳 Si	January 24, 2001	February 10, 2013	January 19, 2025
馬 Horse	午 Wu	February 12, 2002	January 31, 2014	February 21, 2026
羊 Goat	未 Wei	February 1, 2003	February 19, 2015	February 26, 2027
猴 Monkey	申 Shen	January 22, 2004	February 8, 2016	January 14, 2028
雞 Rooster	酉 You	February 9, 2005	January 28, 2017	February 2, 2029
狗 Dog	戌 Xu	January 29, 2006	February 16, 2018	February 17, 2030
豬 Pig	亥 Hai	February 18, 2007	February 5, 2019	January 20, 2031

Chinese New Year starts on the first day of the new year that has a new moon. It ends on the Lantern Festival 14 days later. This occurs around the time of the full moon as each complete moon cycle is about 29.53 days long. In the Gregorian calendar used in other countries, Chinese New Year falls on different dates each year. It is usually between January 21 and February 20. This means that the holiday usually starts on the second (sometimes the third) new moon after the winter solstice.

Animal zodiacs

The dates for the Spring Festival from 1996 to 2019 (in the Gregorian calendar) are at the right. The list also includes the year's animal zodiac and its earthly branch. The names of the earthly branches have no English translations. They are not Chinese translations of the animals. The calendar has a 12-year cycle of the animal zodiac and a 10-year cycle of heavenly stems. Each of the ten heavenly stems is associated with one of the five elements of Chinese astrology. These elements are Wood, Fire, Earth, Metal, and Water. The elements are changed every two years and a yin and yang association changes every year. The elements are named: Yang Wood, Yin Wood, Yang Fire, Yin Fire, and so on. These two cycles create a combined cycle that repeats every 60 years. For example, 1936 was the year of the Yang Fire Rat. 60 years later, 1996 was the next year of the Yang Fire Rat.

Differences

Some people had problems with the difference between the Chinese birth-year and the Gregorian birth-year. Because the Chinese New Year starts in late January or early February, the Chinese year begins several weeks after it begins in the Gregorian calendar. If a person is born in early January, their Chinese birth-year is the last Gregorian year, not the current one. This causes problems because many people think of the years as the same. For example, 1989 was the year of the Snake. The year 1990 was the year of the Horse. It began on 26 January 1990. This means that anyone born from January 1 to January 25, 1990 was actually born in the year of the Snake not the year of the Horse.