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The Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is a very significant time of the year for the Chinese. It marks the end of the winter season and the beginning of the summer season. The celebration of this time is a public holiday. It begins on the first day of the first month of the Chinese calendar and lasts for fifteen days. It is also known as 'the Chinese Lunar New Year' and the 'Spring Festival' as it welcomes the spring season. The last day is the most special and is called the Lantern Festival (Shang Yuan Festival, in Chinese). It is the first night of the year with a full moon in that lunar year! This fifteen-day holiday overrules all the other Chinese holidays and is the longest amongst them all. It is the oldest of all Chinese celebrations and brings to one's mind the beliefs and the behaviour of their ancestors, having many traditions and myths surrounding it. It is celebrated not only by the Chinese but also by the neighbouring countries which have had Chinese influence in earlier centuries namely Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Mongolia and Bhutan.

Chinese are closely associated with agriculture. The major part of the population is in the rural areas. Therefore, the celebration is to welcome the spring season which is a good time to harvest and begin fresh cultivation. That is why the New Year is celebrated with such gusto.

In China itself, the New Year is celebrated in different ways with traditions and customs which vary according to the different regions. The people spend lavishly to buy decorations, food, gifts, and clothing. Traditionally, each house is thoroughly cleaned up with the desire to drive out all misfortune out and to pave the way for good fortune to come in. Thereafter, doors and windows are decorated with couplets (poem of two lines) and red color paper cut outs with themes of wealth, long lives and happiness written on them. On the fifteenth day or the last day of the festival, the Lantern Festival, the families hold big feasts. All family members come together for an annual reunion dinner; children carry paper lanterns with them when they visit the temples at night. On the lanterns they solve riddles. Food items like sweet delicacies are served along with pigs, chicken and duck. After the dinner fire crackers are burst in jubilation. Then, early next morning, the children wish their parents a happy and a healthy new year. In return, the parents give them money in red envelopes. People write 'good luck' letters to each other.

The Chinese New Year is a time for reconciliation. They endeavor to forget all previous grudges, and sincerely desire peace, harmony and happiness for each one they know. It is a time to get united and enjoy the upcoming New Year with a new beginning in its fullness!

Outside China, the Chinese years are counted from the time of the Yellow Emperor, considered to have founded the Chinese civilization though in China itself, they do not count years sequentially.

Chinese New Year Dates

Given below is a list of years from 2006 to 2021 showing the Chinese New Year dates for each year according to the English Calendar. English dates on the right represents the first day of the first Chinese month as per the Chinese calendar.

• Chinese New Year date 2006 - January 29, 2006
• Chinese New Year date 2007 - February 18, 2007
• Chinese New Year date 2008 - February 7, 2008
• Chinese New Year date 2009 - January 26, 2009
• Chinese New Year date 2010 - February 14, 2010
• Chinese New Year date 2011 - February 3, 2011
• Chinese New Year date 2012 - January 23, 2012
• Chinese New Year date 2013 - February 10, 2013
• Chinese New Year date 2014 - January 31, 2014
• Chinese New Year date 2015 - January 20, 2015
• Chinese New Year date 2016 - February 8, 2016
• Chinese New Year date 2017 - January 28, 2017
• Chinese New Year date 2018 - February 16, 2018
• Chinese New Year date 2019 - February 5, 2019
• Chinese New Year date 2020 - January 25, 2020
• Chinese New Year date 2021 - February 12, 2021

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