Chinese New Year

, China .]]
 at Singapore's River Hongbao during the Lantern Festival in 2015]]
**Chinese New Year**, known in China as the **SpringFestival** and in Singapore as the **LunarNewYear**, is a holiday on and around the new moon on the first day of the year in the traditional Chinese calendar. This calendar is based on the changes in the moon and is only sometimes changed to fit the seasons of the year based on how the Earth moves around the sun. Because of this, Chinese New Year is never on January1. It moves around between January21 and February20.

The Chinese New Year is one of the most important holidays for Chinese people all over the world. Its 7th day used to be used instead of birthdays to count people's ages in China. The holiday is still used to tell people which "animal" of the Chinese zodiac they are part of. The holiday is a time for gifts to children and for family gatherings with large meals, just like Christmas in Europe and in other Christian areas. Unlike Christmas, the children usually get gifts of cash in red envelopes (*hongbao*) and not toys, clothes and electronics.

Chinese New Year used to last 15 days until the Lantern Festival on the year's first full moon. Now, it is a national holiday in the Republic and People's Republic of China, the Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei, and Indonesia. It is also celebrated in some parts of Thailand. In some places, only the first day or three days are celebrated. In the PRC, nearby weekends are changed to create a 7-day-long "Golden Week".

The traditional new years in Vietnam (Tet) and in Korea (Korean New Year) are almost always on the same day as Chinese New Year but are sometimes different. The Japanese New Year used to work the same way but has been very different since some changes in the 19th century. Losar and Tsagaan Sar, the traditional Tibetan and Mongolian new years, are very close to the Chinese New Year but different ways of thinking about the moon's changes and adding months can make them happen weeks apart from the Chinese festival.

## Name
 (top) and the easier way]]

The Mandarin Chinese name of the holiday is *Chūn Jié*, which means "Spring Festival". This is why it is often called the "Spring Festival" by Chinese speakers of English, even though the holiday always occurs in the winter months of January or February. Its name is written  in traditional Chinese writing and  in the easier writing now used by mainland China and Singapore. The Republic of China began to use this name in the 1910s, after it began to use the European calendar for most things.

Another old name for the holiday was *Lìchūn*, Under the Zhou, people were having harvest festivals like today's Mid-Autumn Festival by about 1000 BC. Over time, common people started to give gifts to their gods and their dead family members, just like the king.

By the early Han, people were counting their birthdays from People's Day on the 7th day of the New Year. The order of animals' birthdays was said to be Roosters and Chickens on the New Year, Dogs on the next day, Pigs on the day after that, Goats on the 4th, Oxen and Cows on the 5th, Horses on the 6th, and then people. About the same time, people started burning bamboo to make loud noises to welcome the New Year and scare away bad things. but they certainly had it by the 9th century at the end of the Tang. Over the next few centuries, fireworks and firecrackers replaced burning bamboo as a way to chase away anything bad and to welcome in the New Year. Different parts of today's dragon dances began at different times, with some at least as old as the Song (about 1150) and others very new, like using special paint that glows under black light.

Lion dances were probably newer. China has not had its own lions since the spread of people out of Africa into the rest of the world. The earliest lions in Chinese books were gifts to the Han emperor from Parthia and other people who lived along the Silk Road connecting Chinese and Roman businesses. There was lion dancing under the Tang and in Japan by the 8th century, but people still thought of it as a foreign dance used by Buddhists. Today, people talk about "Northern" and "Southern" kinds of lion dances. The special northern kind began under the Southern Song (12th–13th century). The special southern kind began in Guangdong later, maybe under the Ming (14th–17th century).

As part of other changes, the Meiji Emperor of Japan ordered in 1873 that the new year celebrations of his country would be held on January1. Today, even most of the traditional Japanese celebrations now occur on that day, not at the same time as Chinese New Year. In 1928, the Nationalist Party of China tried to change the Chinese celebrations to January1, too, but this completely failed as the Chinese people protested or ignored the new laws and continued as usual.

In 1965, some people tried to change Indonesia's government, making its army less powerful. They failed and Suharto said they were working for Indonesia's Communists, who were working with Mao Zedong's Communist China. In 1967, Suharto helped make laws against using Chinese language or culture, including any celebration of Chinese New Year. Since the year 2000, Chinese New Year has been one of the PRC's Golden Weeks: there are three days of paid time away from work during the first few days and two weekends around it are moved to make a 7-day-long holiday. These Golden Weeks copied a similar Japanese idea.

In 2015, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah set out tough new laws about the celebration of Chinese New Year in Brunei. This followed earlier laws like it about Christmas and is part of introducing traditional Islamic law to the country.

## Events
### Mainland China
 in a Beijing railway station ]]
People in China usually try to be together with their family for at least the first few days of the holiday. Because of the large number of Chinese people and the many people who work away from their hometowns, all this "spring traveling" (*chunyun*) is the biggest movement of people in the world every year.

Houses are cleaned completely. In former times, sacrifices were made to the gods and dead family members in the days before the holiday. Older and married people give younger ones cash in red envelopes known as *hongbao* in Mandarin Chinese or *laisee* in Cantonese.

The day of the new year's first full moon is called the Lantern Festival. Many streets and homes are decorated with old paper lanterns. In the past, this was one of the few days of the year when the women of families with lots of money could go outside their homes. They walked the streets nearby with their maids and could say hello to people outside their family. This still causes the festival to make people think of young adults meeting their future husband or wife.

File:ChineseVarietyart HumanLion.jpg | Northern lion dancing
File:Fire Dragon dance.jpg | A fire dragon dance
File:Red girls (121513100).jpg | Hong Kong girls in traditional red clothes for the New Year
File:Dragonwalk (406426907).jpg | Dragon dancers in Hong Kong
File:Chinesenewyearfireworkman.jpg | A Shanghainese man setting off firecrackers 
File:CNY Fair Canton 2010.jpg | One of Guangzhou's flower festivals

### Taiwan
s in Yanshui, Taiwan ]]
In Taiwan, most events and traditions are the same as those in China. The most important special event is the Yanshui Beehive Fireworks Festival, where fireworks are shot straight into the people watching the show. Being hit is supposed to bring good luck, but this used to be very unsafe. Today, people wear special hard hats (helmets) and thick clothes to protect them from the fire and fireworks. Another special event is the "Bombing of Master Handan" in Taitung, where people throw firecrackers straight at the members of a parade who are wearing only red underwear and towels. Taipei's City Lantern Festival also goes on for most of the holiday, not just during the 1-day Lantern Festival at the end. Its people also try to pay back any money that they owe before the New Year.

In 2001, Davao City stopped letting people use fireworks because its people were hurting themselves too much. Their leader Rodrigo Duterte became president of the country and said that he wanted to stop fireworks everywhere. As president, however, he has so far continued to let people use them.

### Indonesia
Chinese New Year () is a 1-day national holiday in Indonesia. Chinese people have lived there since at least the 15th century, when Zheng He's ships visited its islands for the Yongle Emperor of the Ming, and many more came when the Netherlands held the islands as a colony. Suharto stopped Chinese Indonesians from celebrating Chinese New Year in 1967. Some people had tried to change the government in 1965 and Suharto said Indonesian Communists and their friends in the PRC had done it. Things changed after the fall of Suharto in 1998, and Indonesia made Chinese New Year a national holiday for everyone in 2003. People cannot use fireworks in most of Indonesia, but some cities like Jakarta let people use firecrackers.

Some older Chinese traditions still survive in Indonesia. Like in the Philippines, people try to pay back any money they owe before the New Year. People also try not to lend any money during the holiday, because they think it will make them have to keep lending money for the whole year. Some people still follow the tradition that the second day is used for married women to visit their parents, after visiting her husband's family on Chinese New Year's Day. The Malaysian government even has its own "open houses" at community halls.

In addition to fireworks at the beginning of the New Year, many people light them on the 9th day of the holiday to celebrate the birthday of the Jade Emperor, the boss of the Chinese gods. Another common dish is "steam boat", a kind of seafood hot pot. and the day after it. It also sees lot of "steam boat" hot pot dinners. with more than 10,000 people in it and floats that showing every animal of the circle of Chinese years and the money god Cai Shen. For more than 10 years, Singapore has held a big lion dancing contest with teams coming from other countries across Southeast Asia. During the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the New Year, there is the River Hongbao show on the Marina Bay Floating Platform and along the waterfront.

File:Chinese New Year market.jpg | The Chinese New Year market in Chinatown 
File:Singapore River Hong Bao 2006 6, Feb 06.JPG | The statue of Cai Shen at the River Hongbao 
File:Chingay Parade 08 Singapore (2269057331).jpg | A dancer at the Chingay Parade 
File:Singapore Dragondance-performance-02.jpg | Dragon dancers 
File:Chinese New Year decorations along New Bridge Road, Singapore - 20150215.jpg | Decorations on New Bridge Rd for the Year of the Goat 
File:Marina-Bay Singapore Firework-launching-CNY-2015-02.jpg | Fireworks at the River Hongbao 
File:2016 Singapur, Downtown Core, River Hongbao 2016 (42).jpg | Decorations at the River Hongbao 

### Brunei
Chinese New Year, the day before it, the day after it, and the Lantern Festival are national holidays in Brunei. The country has had a large number of Chinese people since the 1930s and 40s, and the sultan sometimes comes to their New Year celebrations. Since 2015, however, Brunei has set out tough Islamic laws that try to stop Muslims from joining or even seeing the Chinese celebrations. Lion dances are allowed only at the last Chinese temple in Brunei, at Chinese schools, and at the homes of the Chinese. Only Chinese people can join the dance. People cannot use fireworks or firecrackers, and dances must stop during the hours of Islamic prayers.

### Korea
 during their new year celebrations in 2005.]]
The Chinese New Year celebrations in North and South Korea are known as Korean New Year. The time in Beijing is 1 hour different from the time in the Korean capital cities of Pyongyang and Seoul. About one time every 24 years, this makes the Korean New Year start on the day after the Chinese New Year.

The Korean holiday is very close to the Chinese one, with families gathering, children being very nice to their parents and grandparents, and older people giving gifts of money to the young. The Korean holiday has different traditional foods and games, though.

### Vietnam
 decorated for the 2007 Tet.]]

The Chinese New Year celebrations in Vietnam are known as Tet. Like the Korean New Year, it sometimes happens on a different day. In 1967, North Vietnam changed its time so that its capital Hanoi is now 1 hour different from Beijing. This means that the new moon happens a day earlier in Vietnam about one time every 24 years. Vietnamese people also add a 13th month to their calendar at a different time from the Chinese, who always try to put the 1st day of winter in their 11th month. In some years, this makes Tet happen in the month after the Chinese New Year.

Like in Korea, the Vietnamese New Year is mostly the same as China's, with families gathering, children saying nice things to their parents and grandparents, and older people giving gifts of money to the young. There are some different foods and traditions, like their New Year tree or special games. Some of the differences come from changes in China: Tet sees more people do nice things for their dead family members. In China, most of the traditions like that were moved to Tomb Sweeping Day at the  beginning of April.

### Other places
The largest US and Canadian celebrations happen in Chinatowns. People eat Chinese food, give gifts, and have dragon parades that sometimes include marching bands. There is no national holiday with time off work, but different events go on for the full traditional 2 weeks up to the Lantern Festival.

In the United Kingdom, the celebration in London's Chinatown and Trafalgar Square drew 500,000 people in 2015.

The holiday is also so important to China that many world leaders will take time to send their good wishes to China and the Chinese people.

File:03958--1903-Clebrating Chinese New Year-Brück & Sohn Kunstverlag.jpg | A German postcard about Chinese New Year in Los Angeles, USA 
File:05046--1904-Ready_for_the_chinese_New_Year-Br%C3%BCck_%26_Sohn_Kunstverlag.jpg | A Chinese American mother and child dressed for the New Year in LA 
File:Lion Costume, 1953.jpg | Chinese Americans get the special clothes ready for a lion dance team in LA 
File:Chinatown london.jpg | London's Chinatown decorated for the Chinese New Year 
File:Chinese New Year Lion Dance.jpg | Southern lion dancing in New York City, USA 
File:El poder unificador del fuego y la luz (3240867768).jpg | Fireworks in Mexico City's Chinatown 
File:Chinese New Year 2015 (16438209297).jpg | The parade and a cloud of smoke from firecrackers in DC 
File:Year of the Rat.jpg|Chinese New Year in Manchester 

## Customs
s (*hongbao*) for sale in Taipei on Taiwan]]
s and a picture of a healthy and happy baby]]

 used to be very common, especially for the Kitchen God and Cai Shen, the god of money .]]
Most traditional customs have to do with getting more good luck for the new year and staying away from anything unhappy.

People hang up decorations, especially pairs of Chinese poems (couplets) on either side of their doors. Some put pictures of Taoist gods on the doors to scare away bad things. Live plants suggest growth, and flowers suggest coming fruits. Pussy willow is common in some places because its Chinese name sounds like "money coming in". Red underwear is very common and is most commonly worn during New Years which have the same animal as the wearer's birth year (so, at ages 12, 24, 36, and so on). In Malaysia, it has even become common to give people such red underwear as gifts and for non-Chinese to wear all-red clothes during the season of the Chinese New Year. In the same way, people near Beijing thought that it was unlucky to cook or steam food for the first 5 days of the New Year. They would cook all of their next week of food 2 days before it, so it was ready for the reunion meal. They would add yeast to their dumpling skins the day before that, on the 28th day of the 12th month. The skins would have enough time to be ready but not enough time to go bad. Today, people cook or eat out all through the week. It is easy to buy ready-made skins at supermarkets, keep their homemade skins fresh in fridges, or just buy all their dumplings from nearby shops and there is nothing special about the 28th day. and hold luck inside. is a kind of cake made from fried sticky rice and sugar. It is very common in southern China. In Chinese, its name sounds like *nián gāo* ("the year gets better") or *niánnián gāoshēng* ("getting better year after year"). Some people also think its stickiness is like a glue and use it as a wish for holding their family together. Indonesians call their niangao "basket cakes" because they mold theirs in bamboo baskets. They also have some special flavors in addition to vanilla and chocolate like pandan, a tree with good-smelling leaves. Some people fry tikoy with eggs; basket cakes are often steamed with pieces of coconut meat. Because most Chinese people in the Philippines speak Hokkien and not Mandarin Chinese, they also like to eat pineapples. In Hokkien, the word for "pineapple" sounds like the word for "having a lot of money".

Some Chinese also put out "Trays of Togetherness", dishes with eight different parts and eight different kinds of snack foods. Some common things to put in these trays are kumquats, longans, pieces of coconut meat, peanuts, candies, and melon and lotus seeds. Eight is a lucky number to many Chinese people, like seven in Europe and other places. These dishes are very common among Malaysian and Indonesian Chinese.

For the Lantern Festival, the special food is yuanxiao, small balls of sticky rice in a sweet soup. Lichun always happens near the Chinese New Year as well. It is celebrated by eating spring pancakes (*chūnbǐng*).

File:Nian gao.jpg | Niangao, small cakes of sticky rice
File:Blessings for chinese new year.jpg | Tangerines with a hongbao
File:Chinese_Dumplings.jpg | Chinese dumplings
File:Egg rolls.jpg | Egg rolls
File:Offerings to the Gods.jpg | A traditional gift of food, drinks, and incense to the gods, especially the kitchen god

## Notes
## References