As mentioned, the Lunar New Year is also called the Spring Festival in China and marks the beginning of the spring season. “China Xian Tour put together 9 days Beijing, Zhangjiajie, Guilin and Xian Tour bespoke to us. Start planning your China holiday with one of our local specialists. Besides Chinese New Year, the Lantern Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival, Dragon Boat Festival are also representative traditional festivals in China.
- This festival is celebrated worldwide, particularly in Asian countries like China.
- The horse stands as a revered symbol of freedom, vitality, and unbridled ambition.
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- Countries shaped by Confucian and East Asian cultural traditions, including South Korea and Vietnam, also observe the lunar New Year cycle.
- For example, in 2013, New Year’s Eve (9 February) fell on a Saturday and New Year’s Day (10 February) on a Sunday.
- It is also recorded that people linked the firecrackers with hemp rope and created the bian pao (鞭炮, “gunpowder whip”) in the Song dynasty.
- Festivities often last for 15 days — sometimes even more — with different tasks and activities taking place over that period.
New York City
During this period, red packets are also known as yasuiqian (壓歲錢; 压岁钱; yāsuìqián), which evolved from a homophonous phrase yasuiqian (壓祟錢; 压祟钱; yāsuìqián), literally meaning “money to suppress evil spirits”. Like many other New Year dishes, certain ingredients that have names that relate to long life, prosperity, or wealth also take precedence over others. Several of the Chinese food Ringospin Casino names are homophones for words that also mean good things.
What Are People Born in the Year of the Horse Like?
Transportation during Chinese New Year, abbreviated as “Spring Festival travel rush”, is divided by the Spring Festival, with 15 days before the festival and 25 days after, for a total of 40 days. The fifth day of the first lunar month, according to Chinese folk customs, is the birthday of the five Gods of Wealth. Ancestral worshiping usually takes place on the last day of the 12th lunar month, and varies in different regions due to different traditions. On the 24th day of the 12th lunar month, there is a custom of sweeping dust (aka sweeping houses).
But if you have ever heard of the Lantern Festival, it’s important to note that there is a distinction between the events. But you may have noticed that it doesn’t occur on this exact date every year. The term Chinese New Year is commonly used; however, Lunar New Year has become more widely used as an inclusive term to represent the various nations that also celebrate at the same time of year. Centred around removing the old and bad and welcoming the good and new for the year ahead, many communities and cultures have both similar and different traditions. Celebrated across Asia and beyond, the Lunar New Year sees numerous events and festivities taking place worldwide. We looked around and settled in China Xian Tour due to their incredible efficiency.
Dates in the Chinese lunisolar calendar
Although the Spring Festival is scheduled on the first day of the first lunar month, the activities during Chinese New Year are not limited to just that day. Nowadays, the Spring Festival is seen more as a crucial moment for family reunion and cultural inheritance. Chinese New Year (also called Spring Festival or Lunar New Year) is the most popular holiday in China and Chinese communities around the world. According to the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, years were historically designated through a combination of the Ten Heavenly Stems and the Twelve Earthly Branches.
The well-known proverb “An old horse knows the way” reflects wisdom gained through experience. As a result, the horse became a powerful cultural symbol of loyalty, endurance, and dedication. Other folklore suggests that the order of the zodiac animals was determined by a great celestial race.
A 2026 guide to Lunar New Year as we gallop into the Year of the Horse
Thus, it’s called renri/jan jat (the people’s birthday). Every year, certain Chinese zodiac signs clash with the stars negatively, so temple visits are considered a good way to resolve those conflicts and bring peace in the coming months. To kick things off, festive cakes and puddings are made on the 24th day of the last lunar month (February 11 in 2026). Festivities often last for 15 days — sometimes even more — with different tasks and activities taking place over that period. Like many major holidays, Lunar New Year can be a lot of work.
- Since Chinese New Year falls on different days of the week each year, the governments of some of these countries choose to adjust working days to create a longer public holiday.
- The first day of the Chinese New Year falls on the new moon that appears between 21 January and 20 February.a
- The Horse occupies the seventh position in this sequence and corresponds specifically to the Earthly Branch “Wu,” hence the designation ‘Wu Horse.’
- George Town, a Chinese-majority city, is known for its lively Chinese New Year celebrations that last until the Lantern Festival on the fifteenth day.
- Typical actions such as lighting fires and using knives are considered taboo; thus, all consumable food has to be cooked beforehand.
- Thus, it’s called renri/jan jat (the people’s birthday).
In the Gregorian calendar, Chinese New Year occurs on the new moon that falls between 21 January and 20 February. Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines celebrate it as an official festival. Other activities include lighting firecrackers and giving money in red envelopes. Windows and doors may be decorated with red paper-cuts and couplets representing themes such as good fortune, happiness, wealth, and longevity.
South Asia
Another family dinner is held to celebrate the eve of the birth of the Jade Emperor, the ruler of heaven. For many Chinese Buddhists, this is another day to avoid meat, as the seventh day commemorates the birth of Sakra, lord of the Devas in Buddhist cosmology, who is analogous to the Jade Emperor. In China, it is also common that on the 5th day people will shoot off firecrackers to get Guan Yu’s attention, thus ensuring his favour and good fortune for the new year.
Concluding on the Lantern Festival (元宵节)
It is one of the representatives of traditional Chinese snacks and is a spherical food made of glutinous rice flour. Eating dumplings is a unique way to express people’s wishes for blessings and good fortune during the end of the old year and the beginning of new year. Lantern Festival is famous for its Yuan Xiao (sweet rice balls), whose round shape symbolizes family unity and togetherness. It is best to choose bright, colorful, and warm Chinese New Year clothes, especially red clothes, because red symbolizes auspiciousness and festivity. It embodies the affection and nostalgia of more than one billion Chinese people.
Because it marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year and coincides with the return of spring and the revival of all things, people name it “Spring Festival”. The name “Spring Festival” literally means a festival celebrating the arrival of spring. As one of the most important and distinctive traditional Chinese folk festivals, Chinese New Year carries rich cultural connotations and profound national emotions. Although Vietnam replaces the Rabbit with the Cat in its zodiac sequence, the Year of the Horse remains consistent across these cultures, underscoring shared cosmological heritage. These practices reflect the enduring symbolic association between the horse and swift achievement. The horse, delayed by helping others along the way, finished seventh – reinforcing cultural values of loyalty and benevolence.
However, in 1873, five years after the Meiji Restoration, Japan adopted the Gregorian calendar, and the first day of January became the official and cultural New Year’s Day in Japan. During the New Year holidays, stage bosses gather the most popular actors from various troupes and let them perform repertories from the Qing dynasty. In 2017, it was estimated that over 100 billion of these virtual red envelopes would be sent over the New Year holiday. Many families in China still follow the tradition of eating only vegetarian food on the first day of the new year, as it is believed that doing so will bring good luck into their lives for the whole year. Legends hold that the Hokkien were spared from a massacre by Japanese pirates by hiding in a sugarcane plantation, between the eighth and ninth days of the Chinese New Year, coinciding with the Jade Emperor’s birthday. The seventh day, traditionally known as Renri (the common person’s birthday), is the day when everyone grows one year older.
