One may be surprised to find out that the Lunar New Year is celebrated on February 1st, a month later than when most of the world, that uses the Gregorian calendar, celebrates.

    Lunar New Year, also known as the Chinese New Year is celebrated by Asian countries such as South Korea, Vietnam, Singapore, Malaysia, Mongolia and Indonesia and other communities around the world who use the lunisolar calendar (although in China the Gregorian calendar is used for civil purposes, the lunisolar calendar is still used to this day).  According to studycli.org, the lunisolar calendar is a rendition of the lunar calendar that determines the number of days in the year based on the moon’s 29.53 day orbit.  If one follows that orbit all year, that only makes up 354 days of the year.   To substitute for the eleven mixed days, the lunisolar calendar, “that takes into account both the moon’s orbit around the earth and the earth’s 365-day orbit around the sun.” This is done by adding a “13th” month to the traditional Chinese calendar roughly every three years similar to the day added in a Leap Year.  This calendar is also referred to as 农历 (nóng lì), which translates to “agricultural calendar.”

    A part of Chinese astrology is the twelve zodiac signs for each year.  2021 was the Year of the Ox, and the new year will commence the Year of the Tiger. This cycle lasts for twelve years starting with the Year of the Rat (ex.2020) and ending with the Year of the Pig (ex. 2032).  

    According to creativeartsguild.org, each animal has different attributes associated with them.   This includes the Year of the Rat, whose attributes are quick-witted, resourceful, versatile, and kind, the ox is diligent, dependable, strong, and determined, the tiger-brave, confident, and competitive, the rabbit-quiet, elegant, kind, and responsible, the dragon represents confidence, knowledge, and enthusiasm, the snake- enigmatic, intelligent, and wise, the attribute’s of the Year of the Horse are animated, active, and energetic, the goat’s attributes are calm, gentle, and sympathetic, the monkey represents curiosity, intelligence, and sharpness, the rooster-observant, hardworking, courageous, the attribute’s of the Year of the Dog are lovely, honest, and prudent, and the pig represents compassion, generosity, and diligence.

     Since the Lunar New Year is celebrated in many different countries, there are many ways of celebrating.  Target released videos of several people’s Lunar New Year celebrations.  First is Jing Gao, the creator of Fly by Jing, which is a brand that sells “all natural Chinese condiments and spices”.  She describes her Lunar New Year as a feast with friends, eating hot pot.  Hot Pot is a Chinese style of preparing a pot of soup with several ingredients.  According to ltlshanghai.com it gets its name by its consistent warmth and Hot pot can also serve as a way to gather family and friends and eat together.  Jing Gao explains one Lunar New Year tradition, wearing red is a sign of luck.  However if that year of the zodiac is the year one is born, that is considered unlucky and the person is advised to wear some form of red every day of the year.

    Next is Alice Sun, an immigrant from China who sees Lunar New Year as a break from trying to communicate in a language she wasn’t quite fluent in yet.  Alice eats scallion pancakes and  ribs.  She explains that she is learning how to cook these annually eaten foods from her grandma.  Alice Sun enjoys the ability to connect with her grandma and her Chinese culture.  She states, ‘I’ve realized that her cooking and food is very much her own and I don’t really want any other version of it.  It’s our family version and it’s what I’m proud of”.

    Lastly is Andrew Nguyen, a Vietnamese writer and drag queen.  They express them self on Lunar New Year with traditional fabrics and outfits.  As an adult they celebrates with his family and with Bubble Tea that is a big group of drag queens that possess, “a lot of joy and celebration and family and community that really takes care of each other”.  This year they collaborated with the artist and Clara for a Lunar New Year performance. 

They describe the backbone of celebrating the Lunar New Year is spending time with your blood related family or the people close to you.

    Some popular aspects of celebrating are making dumplings, setting off fireworks, firecrackers, and lanterns, and buying or sending red packets.  As said by China Highlights, red packets are red paper envelopes usually with a bit of money instead.  However the value is the color red which besides luck represents energy and happiness.  They are also given on special occasions such as weddings and birthdays.  They are known as hongbao in Mandarin, lai see in Cantonese, and ang pow in Hokkien (all are dialect families of Chinese).  Apart from these ways of celebrating, there are a bunch of other ways to celebrate Lunar New Year.