helo.my: Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year or Spring Festival, is China’s most important festival.
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It starts from the beginning of Spring and marks the end of winter, and a new year on the lunar calendar, as well as the desire for a new life. In China, the occasion is a public holiday and people usually enjoy a whole week to celebrate.
Here’s what you need to know about Chinese New Year 2021.
When is Chinese New Year 2021?
Chinese New Year 2021 falls on Friday, 12 February, 2021, and the public holiday runs from 11 – 17 February.
What is the Chinese New Year 2021 animal and what does it mean?
2021 is a year of the Ox – the second of the 12-year cycle of animals in Chinese astrology -starting from 12 February (Chinese lunar New Year Day) and lasting until 30 January 2022.
In Chinese culture, the Ox is a valued animal because of its role in agriculture, and similarly in the zodiac, the Ox is seen as hardworking, positive and honest.
The years of the Ox are 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009 and 2021.
Barack Obama, George Clooney, Meryl Streep and Morgan Freeman are all Oxen; the Ox is known to be earnest, honest, logical, intelligent and fit for leadership.
How is Chinese New Year celebrated?
While its unclear exactly when new year celebrations began in China, it’s believed to have originated as early as 2,300BC with Emperors Yao and Shun.
At first the holiday was marked between mid-winter and early spring, however it soon adopted the solar calendar and relied on the moon phase to lock down the date.
One of the most famous traditional greetings for Chinese New Year is the Cantonese kung hei fat choi, literally ‘greetings, become rich”.
In many Chinese cities, from New Year’s Day, traditional performances can be seen such as dragon dances, lion dances, and imperial performances like an emperor’s wedding.
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A great variety of traditional Chinese products are on offer, and rarely seen Chinese snacks available in city parks and temple fairs.
Red decorations, red wrapped gifts, and red clothes are everywhere at Chinese New Year.
New Year Eve starts with a family dinner, which will almost always take place in the home rather than a restaurant, and reunite family members.
Dinner is followed be Shou Sui which sees family members stay awake together during the night, launching crackling fireworks at midnight.
In the coming days, red envelopes with money is usually given by adults to children and it’s believed the packet will ward off evil and grant a long life.
The Yuan Xiao Festival, also known as the Lantern Festival, takes place on the 15th day, and see people release paper lanterns into the skies.
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