Chinese New Year is the most distinctive traditional festival in China and a time for family reunions, which creates a strong “taste of China”. As the Chinese New Year draws closer, let’s experience this strong “Chinese flavour” together.

The first day of the first month of the Chinese lunar calendar is called the “Spring Festival” and is the beginning of a new year for the Chinese people. The Chinese calendar uses the Stem-Branch system or Gan-Zhi, so the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar does not always fall on January 1 in the A.D. system. For example, the first day of the first month in 2021 will be on February 12, and the first day of the first month in 2022 will be on February 1.

Meanwhile, 2022 is also known as the “Year of the Tiger” in China. The reason why it is called “Year of the Tiger” is that according to the Stem-Branch chronology, 2022 belongs to the year of reigning Yin, which corresponds to the tiger in the 12 zodiac signs. In China, there are 12 Chinese zodiac signs, and everyone has their own zodiac sign, just like the 12 Western zodiac signs. If your zodiac sign is the Tiger, then 2022 is also called your “year of birth”. Interestingly, in China, if you are about to get married, your parents may ask someone to help you see if you and your partner’s zodiac signs match. Many young Chinese people also learn their zodiac signs and check their horoscopes. If you want to know what your zodiac sign is, feel free to leave your birth year in the comments below!

Being around family members at the turn of the year is a vital ritual for Chinese people. Many of those living away from their hometowns return home during Spring Festival, which gives rise to what’s called “the largest annual human migration in the world”, also known as the “Spring Festival travel rush”. The Spring Festival celebration is a continuous process, starting from the 23rd or 24th of the 12th lunar month. People often worship the Kitchen God, also known as the Stove God,  clean their houses, do their shopping, and put up Spring Festival couplets (blessing words posted on door frames) until New Year’s Eve on the lunar calendar.

It is said that in ancient times, there was a monster named Nian, who would come out and harm the world by the end of each lunar year. People then took measures to send the monster away, such as putting up red couplets since Nian hated red color, and setting off fireworks and firecrackers at their doors to scare it away. These are all Chinese New Year customs. Meanwhile, having a New Year’s Eve dinner and watching the Spring Festival Gala are two important customs of the Spring Festival. New Year’s Eve dinners are done in different ways, in different parts of China. Those in South China must have a dish of fish because “fish” in Chinese sounds similar to the character for “prosperity” symbolizing an abundant and comfortable life. Those in North China often eat dumplings, which symbolize “reunion” and “fortune”. The Spring Festival Gala is a variety of TV programs broadcasted annually to celebrate the lunar New Year. The gala attracts the largest audience of any entertainment show in the world and runs for more than four hours, making it one of the largest TV shows in the world. It is often hailed as a cultural feast for Chinese people on New Year’s Eve. There is also a custom of giving and receiving red envelopes or hongbao. Traditionally, adults placed money into red envelopes and gave them to the children to wish them peace and good luck in the coming year. Nowadays, with the popularization of mobile payment in China, it is a trend to send red envelopes through WeChat. The internet can deliver New Year’s wishes to each and every loved one, even if they are thousands of miles away. The joyous atmosphere of Chinese New Year will last until the first full moon of the first lunar month. Then the Lantern Festival is celebrated, which is bound to be another busy day.

Credits to BeHive