Chinese New Year is extremely special because it’s all about tradition, celebration, and spending time with those who mean the most to you. One of the biggest questions people seem to have is about why the Chinese New Year date happens to change every 365 days. Here’s what you should know if you’re new to celebrating the holiday. Chinese New Year doesn’t start on January 1—why? Unlike the Gregorian calendar, it follows the lunar calendar, with the date based on the second new moon aft As a result, an ordinary year has 12 months while a leap year has 13 months. And an ordinary year has 354, or 355 days, and a leap year has 384 or 385 days. So the first day of the first month in the lunar calendar, Chinese New Year’s Day, varies every year. 2016 is the Year of the Monkey, but it doesn’t begin on Jan 1. The first day falls on Feb 8, which is known as Chinese New Year’s Day, or Spring Festival. Chinese New Year is the most Last year, the New Year fell on the 1 February, with this year's celebrations kicking off today (22 January). Advert Many of us are familiar with the western world's New Year, which falls on 1 Chinese New Year falls on January 29th this year in celebration of welcoming the year of the snake! You might be wondering why we celebrate the new year NOT on the first day of the year. That’s because traditionally the lunar calendar (a different calendar system) was used, and thus Chinese New Year falls on a different day every year In 1912, the government decided to abolish Chinese New Year and the lunar calendar, but adopted the Gregorian calendar instead and made January 1 the official start of the new year. After 1949, Chinese New Year was renamed to the Spring Festival. It was listed as a nationwide public holiday. CHINESE NEW YEAR. Every year, China, along with countries around the world, ring in the Chinese New Year. This highly anticipated event is also known as the Spring Festival. Many people are familiar with the western world’s New Year, which falls on January 1st. Because it coincides with the Gregorian calendar, it is the same date every year. China began celebrating New Year only in the XX century, when the Communist Party of China (CPC) rose to power. 1st January in China is a public holiday. New Year, traditional around the world and observed on the night of December 31/ January 1 is not so significant for the Chinese, as Chinese New Year, which falls on the 1st day of the lunar Lunar New Year will always fall sometime between 21 January and 20 February. In 2023, the celebrations kick off on the earlier side, with Chinese New Year festivities beginning on Sunday, 22 In many countries the New Year begins on January 1. However, this wasn’t always the case. In fact, for centuries, other dates marked the start of the calendar, including March 25 and December 25. So how did January 1 become New Year’s Day? We can partly thank the Roman king Numa Pompilius. Chinese New Year doesn’t start on January 1—why? Unlike the Gregorian calendar, it follows the lunar calendar, with the date based on the second new moon aft More than 1.5 billion people celebrate the Chinese New Year every year, marking the beginning of the upcoming 12 months on the traditional lunisolar calendar. A shop selling decorations for the Chinese New Year in Wuhan, China (). The fireworks at Singapore's River Hongbao during the Lantern Festival in 2015. Chinese New Year, known in China as the Spring Festival and in Singapore as the Lunar New Year, is a holiday on and around the new moon on the first day of the year in the traditional Chinese calendar. January 1 became New Year's Day in 45 BCE when Julius Caesar reformed the Roman calendar, aligning it with the start of Roman consuls’ terms. Pope Gregory XIII later cemented this date in 1582 with the Gregorian calendar, now used worldwide. It begins anywhere between 21 January and 20 February on the Gregorian calendar, but must coincide with the lunar cycle. The first day of Chinese New Year starts with the new moon, and the last Each year in January or February, Chinese communities and countries influenced culturally by China all over the world celebrate the festival that has come to be called the Lunar New Year. There are many Chinese New Year traditions about dos and don'ts. Find out the top 18 things you should not do. Some are taboos on the first day of the Chinese New Year and some are superstitions for the whole New Year Festival season (from the 1st to 15th of the Lunar New Year). 1. Avoid taking medicine. In most places around the world, we follow the Gregorian calendar, which has 365 days and 12 months, including leap years. According to this calendar, the year starts on January 1 and ends on December 31. However, various cultures mark their New Year on different dates later in the year. These cultures use lunar, solar, and other mixed calendars to keep track of time. Here, are the cultures On Jan. 29, Asian American communities around the U.S. will ring in the Year of the Snake with community carnivals, family gatherings, parades, traditional food, fireworks and other festivities
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