Chinese New Year traditionally lasts from the first day to the 15th day of the New Year (which is Lantern Festival), but the demands of modern life mean that most people don’t get such an extended holiday. Still, the first five days of the New Year are an official holiday in Taiwan, while workers in Mainland China and Singapore get at least 2 or 3 days off.
The Chinese New Year is a chance to leave the problems of the previous year behind. It is important to start the New Year fresh, and this means cleaning up the house and buying new clothes.
Houses are decorated with red paper banners which have auspicious couplets written on them. These are hung around doorways and are intended to bring luck to the household for the coming year.
Red is an important color in Chinese culture, symbolizing prosperity. Many people will wear red clothing during the New Year celebrations, and houses will have many red decorations such as Chinese knot work.
Red Envelopes
Red envelopes (►hóng bāo) are given to children and unmarried adults. Married couples also give red envelopes to their parents.
The envelopes contain money. The money must be in new bills, and the total amount must be an even number. Certain numbers (such as four) are bad luck, so the total amount should not be one of these unlucky numbers. “Four” is a homonym for “death”, so a red envelope should never contain $4, $40, or $400.
Fireworks
Evil spirits are driven away by loud noise, so Chinese New Year is a very loud celebration. Long strings of firecrackers are set off throughout the holiday, and there are many displays of fireworks lighting up the evening skies.
Some countries such as Singapore and Malaysia restrict the use of fireworks, but Taiwan and Mainland China still allow almost unrestricted use of firecrackers and other fireworks.
Chinese Zodiac
The Chinese zodiac cycles every 12 years, and each year is named after an animal. The year of the Rabit starts on February 3, 2011 and continues to January 22, 2012.
* Rabbit : February 03, 2011 - January 22, 2012
* Dragon : January 23, 2012 - February 09, 2013
* Snake : February 10, 2013 - January 30, 2014
* Horse : January 31, 2014 - February 18, 2015
* Sheep : February 19, 2015 - February 07, 2016
* Monkey : February 08, 2016 - January 27, 2017
* Rooster : January 28, 2017 - February 18, 2018
* Dog : February 19, 2018 - February 04, 2019
* Pig : February 05, 2019 - January 24, 2020
* Rat : January 25, 2020 - February 11, 2021
* Ox : February 12, 2021 - January 31, 2022
* Tiger : February 1, 2023 - February 19, 2011
Wishing you all a very Happy Chinese New Year!
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