Chinese New Year

Celebrating Chinese New Year with fireworks

Today is the start of the main Chinese festival, the Chinese New Year - also known as the Spring Festival. The Chinese calendar is made up of a cycle of twelve years, with each year representing a different animal. This year marks the start of the year of the Dragon, the only mythical creature in the Chinese calendar, and is looked upon as one of the luckiest of all the animals.

As the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, New Year’s Day can fall anywhere between late January and the middle of February in the Gregorian calendar. Festivities begin with the new moon and last for 15 days, ending on the date of the full moon with the Lantern festival.

New Year customs and traditions vary widely throughout China and around the world, but one of the overriding themes is to remember the family and wish everyone peace and prosperity in the coming year. 

Take a look at other festivals and holiday ideas for January  

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