Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, 春节(chun jie), is one of the biggest holidays in China. It lasts around 15 days and is celebrated nationwide in numerous ways. Cities often do light shows, set off fireworks, and have parades with lion dances and dragon dances. China has a week-long public holiday called the Golden Week where people go home and spend the holiday with their families. If you travel to China during this time, you will see a swarm of red and gold decorations. This year is the Year of the Horse, so there will be numerous horse depictions, and decorations relating to it. Because it follows the Lunar Calendar, this year Chinese New Year started on February 17 and will last until March 3. The last day of Chinese New Year is the Lantern Festival or 元宵节(yuan xiao jie). It celebrates the first full moon of the new year and the arrival of spring. Traditionally to celebrate the culmination of this holiday, people write on paper lanterns and release them into the sky. 

The CMG New Year Gala (春晚) is the annual TV show that broadcasts Chinese New Year’s Eve every year. It’s the world’s most watched annual TV show, and over a billion people all over the world watch it. It’s been held every year since 1983 and features traditional music, dances, performances, skits and clothing. They also invite many famous Chinese actors and singers. It’s a big cultural event that highlights the unique heritage, traditions, and diversity of all 56 ethnic groups across China.

Some superstitions to bring good luck:

• Wearing lucky colors like red and gold 
• Having a lavish family reunion dinner with fish (surplus), dumplings (wealth) and noodles (longevity)
• Elders give 红包 (hong bao), red envelopes with money to symbolize passing on fortune
• Open windows before midnight to represent letting out the old year and welcoming the new year
• Visit relatives, starting from the eldest to strengthen familial bonds

Things NOT to do:

• Cleaning your house because it represents sweeping away good luck
• Cutting your hair because in Chinese it sounds similar to cutting off fortune
• Breaking things because it represents breaking good fortune
• Wearing black or white which are unlucky colors associated with death and mourning
• Negative emotions like arguing and crying because it invites in conflict and bad luck
• Borrowing/lending money because it represents unstable finances

Some traditional foods eaten on Chinese New Year are: 

• Fish (abundance)
• Dumplings and spring rolls (wealth)
• Noodles (longevity)
• Niangao (higher income)
• Tangyuan (unity)
• Mandarins and pears (prosperity)
• Chicken (good luck)

Happy Chinese New Year! 🥟🧧