The Chinese New Year 2018 is upon us.
Here are 10 things you need to know about the Lunar New Year:
- In modern China, the day marks the turn of the year in honor of the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar, beginning on Friday, February 16 in 2018.
- The Chinese New Year celebrates a different year in the Chinese zodiac that uses 12 animals to celebrate 12 different types of years, with this year being the Year of the Dog.
- We just finished the Year of the Rooster.
- The holiday is celebrated mostly in China but there are also celebrations in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Singapore, Indonesia, Korea, Malaysia, Thaliand, Cambodia, Vietnam, Mauritius, the Philippines and even Australia.
- The Chinese New Year has been celebrated for centuries and it is a time when we honor deities and our ancestors.
- The night before the Lunar New Year’s Day marks a time for Chinese families to get together and have a reunion dinner every year.
- It is also believed that the house should be cleaned on the day to sweep away ay bad fortune and bring in the good luck.
- On the Chinese New Year, families decorate windows and doors with red paper-cuts and couplets with the themes of good fortune and happiness, as well as wealth and longevity.
- People also light firecrackers and give money in red paper envelopes during the holiday.
- The north of China also eat dumplings filled with vegetables as one of the main meals of the festival.
