Things you didn't know about Chinese New Year
It's that time of the year. People going home to spend a few (more or less) peaceful days with their families, eat more than is good for them, and celebrate a new beginning. It's Chinese New Year! Let's see what it's all about!
Chinese New Year depends on the moon
Chinese New Year is celebrated on the first day (the first new moon) of the first month according to the Chinese lunar calendar. That is between January 21 and February 20 on the Gregorian calendar, but every year the exact date changes. Chinese New Year 2025 falls on the 29th of January.
Chinese New Year is huge
Chinese New Year, also called Spring Festival (Chūnjié, 春节/春節), is a really big event. In fact, it's hard to comprehend how big it is, as it triggers the largest annual migration of humans, called the Spring Rush (Chūnyùn, 春运/春運). Hundreds of millions of people in China go back to their hometowns to visit their families. Successfully buying a train ticket is more like winning the lottery and basically the whole country is on the move. Huge cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen that depend on workers from other parts of the country turn into ghost towns for a week. So if you ever want to travel in China, don't do it during the Spring Festival or get ready for massive crowds and long waiting times.
Passengers wait to board trains at Shanghai's Hongqiao Railway Station (Source)
Each year has it's own animal
Each year in the Chinese calendar is associated with one of the twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac. These animals, in order, are Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Each year is believed to inherit some of the personality traits of its namesake animal, influencing the fortunes of people born in that year (find out which animal you are).
2025 is the year of the Snake.
However, the year of the Dragon is considered the luckiest year in the Chinese zodiac. Dragons are symbols of power, strength, and good luck, making this year particularly auspicious for starting new ventures and businesses. Zodiac signs play such an important role in the Chinese culture that they affect the birth rates significantly. While parents want their children to be born in dragon years, they'd rather not have a tiger baby, because those are said to become troublemakers for their parents and families, as can be seen in the following chart:
Taiwanese are obviously very concerned with having their babies in the right year (Source)
Chinese New Year has lots of rituals
Let's take the Lego set published for Chinese New Year 2022 as inspiration to see what kinds of activities are typical for a Chinese New Year holiday:
Chinese New Year 2022 Lego set. Source: Lego
Now, here's the thing: Chinese people love money. It's very much part of the culture, with the god of money, Cáishényé (财神爷/財神爺), sitting at the top of the Lego pyramid, ready to give those gold ingots to people praying to him. One very well-known song invites the money god to one's home to bring wealth to the family. 恭喜恭喜 is another top hit for Chinese New Year.
A beloved tradition, especially among children, involves giving and receiving red envelopes, or Hóngbāo (红包/紅包), filled with money. These envelopes are usually given by the older family members to the younger ones (mid-level on the right of the pyramid). The red color of the envelope wards off evil spirits.
Do you see the tree that looks like an orange tree? That's a money tree, symbolizing wealth and prosperity. It is believed that having a money tree in the home will bring increased wealth and fortune to the household in the coming year. The couple next to the money tree is writing Chūnlián (春联/春聯), pairs of poetic lines written on red paper and posted on either side of the door to one's home. They express hopeful thoughts and wishes for the new year, often talking about happiness, wealth, and longevity. The red paper again serves to drive away bad luck.
Chūnlián (Source)
The couple at the bottom left is doing some extensive spring cleaning. Before the Chinese New Year, families thoroughly clean their homes to sweep away any ill-fortune and make room for incoming good luck. Feeling inspired? Maybe now is a good time to get your home in shape. But don't clean on the first day of the new year! That will sweep away the newly arrived good luck.
The family at the bottom right is watching Chūnwǎn (春晚), the yearly CCTV spring festival gala. It's a variety show broadcast on Chinese New Year's Eve featuring a mix of singing, dancing, comedy sketches, and traditional performances. It is one of the most-watched television broadcasts in the world!
Closing thoughts
Chinese New Year is a major event in Chinese culture, with a lot going on. There is so much more to talk about, like lanterns, traditional New Year's food (that's probably a book by itself), firecrackers, and dragon dance, but that's something for another day. These traditions collectively create the festive atmosphere that defines the Chinese New Year. See you next year! Until then,
Xīnnián kuàilè (新年快乐/新年快樂): Happy new year!
and
Gōngxǐ fācái (恭喜发财/恭喜發財): May you get rich!
