10 Facts You Should Know about Chinese New Year

Top 10 Facts about Chinese New Year

2021 Chinese New Year Date

1 

The festival date changes every year.

This is because it follows the lunar calendar, based on the movement of the moon. Usually, it falls on a day between mid-January and mid-February. In 2023, Chinese New Year falls on January 22.
 See more about Chinese New Year 2023: Dates & Calendar

 
2 

It is also called Spring Festival.

                  
The festival usually falls after the solar term, Beginning of Spring (Li Chun), and is a festival in the spring, hence the name.

 
3 

Chinese New Year starts a new animal’s zodiac year.

In China, each lunar cycle has 60 years and 12 years is regarded as a small cycle. Each of the 12 years is defined by an animal sign: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. 2023 is the Year of the Rabbit and 2024 is the Year of the Dragon.
 Read more about Chinese Zodiac
Chinese Zodiac Signs
 

4 

The celebration lasts for 15 days till Lantern Festival.

The peak time of the entire celebration is on Chinese New Year's Eve and the first day of the lunar new year. The 15th day is called Lantern Festival, marking the end of the celebration.

 
5 

One sixth of the world’s people celebrate it.

It is not only celebrated in Mainland China, but also observed in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Vietnam, Singapore and some other Asian countries as well as Chinatowns around the world.

In recent years, the celebrations in New York, London, Vancouver, Sydney and other overseas cities have spread out of Chinatowns. Chinese New Year has become one of the world’s most celebrated festivals.
 See more about Celebrations around the World

 
6 

It is the longest public holiday and the whole country is on the move.

Most employees have 7-12 days off the work, and students have one month winter vacation. The 2023 Chinese New Year holiday is from January 11st to January 27th.

No matter where they are, people try their best to return home for a family reunion, like westerners attempting to spend Christmas with their families. Meanwhile, some families travel together during the holiday. This makes the world’s largest annual migration, known as the Spring Festival Travel Rush. The total trips made by plane, train, bus and ship can reach nearly 3 billion.
Xi'an Railway Station during Spring Festival Travel Rush
Travel Rush during the Festival
Reunion Dinner
Family get together for the reunion dinner.
 
7 

Reunion dinner is a ritual.

The reunion dinner on Chinese New Year's Eve is a big feast to commemorate the past year. This is the most important time to be with families.

After the reunion dinner, families sit together to watch the CCTV New Year's Gala while chatting. As the most watched TV program, the gala collects various well-selected performances, targeting audiences of different generations.

 
8 

Then comes the annual largest usage of fireworks on the planet.

Fireworks are an indispensable part of the celebration to liven up the air of Spring Festival. All families set off fireworks to celebrate the festival. The biggest firework show is on Lunar New Year's Eve.
 

9 

The celebration decorations are mostly in red.

Houses are decorated with red Spring Festival couplets, red lanterns, and red paper cuttings; city streets are lit up by red lanterns; and numerous people are dressed in red. This is because red in Chinese culture is the symbol of happiness, wealth and prosperity, and can ward off evil spirits and bring good luck. These red decorations are to the festival what Christmas trees are to Christmas.
 Read more about How to Decorate for Chinese New Year.

Chinese Fireworks Show
Fireworks Show
at Hong Kong Victoria Harbour
Red Lanterns
Red lanterns
decorate city streets.

10 

“Guo Nian Hao” is one of the most used greetings.

This is like the westerners saying “Merry Christmas” to each other on Christmas Day. It means “Happy New Year”.

Why is the celebration also called "Guo Nian"? "Nian”is the Chinese word for year. In folk culture, the Spring Festival celebration is also called “Guo Nian” (meaning “passing a year”). In a Chinese New Year story, “Nian” is a fierce and cruel monster which eats livestock and kids, but it is scared of red color and cracker sound. Therefore, people use red decorations and fireworks to drive away “Nian”.
 Learn more Chinese New Year Greetings
 

Fun Facts about Chinese New Year for Kids

Everyone wears new clothes.

Kids are especially happy to show their beautiful new clothes to their little friends and others.
 

Kids receive red envelopes as gifts.

Red Envelops
Red packets are the best gifts for kids.

Instead of wrapped gifts that western nationalities give at Christmas, children get red envelopes stuffed with lucky money from grandparents, uncles, aunts and other elders who have started to earn their way. The happy fact is that kids are allowed to spend the money as they like.
 

They can eat various delicious foods.

The most famous festival food is dumplings. Additionally, many others are served to treat the families, including rice cakes (Niangao), spring rolls, fish, and rice dumplings. They are served not only at the reunion dinner, but during the whole holiday; not only at home, but at relatives' places and temple fairs.
 7 Chinese New Year Foods that will Bring You Good Luck
 Traditional Chinese New Year Food in Different Areas
 

Everyone gets one year older.

It is like a national birthday and it doesn’t matter when you were born. For kids, it means they are able to do more things on their own.


 See more about Chinese New Year for Kids

- Last updated on Nov. 11, 2022 by Brenda Lian -
Questions & Answers on Top 10 Chinese New Year Facts
Asked by khondokar from AMERICA | Feb. 04, 2019 13:43Reply
what [why] do people [in china] ,mostly decorations are red?
Answers (14)
Answered by Anonymous from UNITED KINGDOM | Feb. 04, 2019 15:07
00Reply


I am Chinese but grew up in the U.S.A. Chinese believe that red scares away a certain spirit that is evil(Search online)
Answered by hgf from YUCIPA | Feb. 05, 2019 10:00
00Reply


In a article it states that "Red is good luck."
Answered by scarlett from AUSTRALIA | Feb. 05, 2019 17:37
00Reply


it is the locals "safe colour" as it drives away the Nian, a monster who comes every year.
Answered by Amelia from USA | Dec. 06, 2019 10:41
00Reply


I'm not Chinese but i'm doing a research project on Chinese new year so i know that red brings good luck and black is said to bring death
Answered by snowflake from MALAYSIA | Apr. 13, 2020 22:51
00Reply


This is because red in Chinese culture is the symbol of happiness, wealth and prosperity, and can ward off evil spirits and bring good luck.
Answered by snowy from AUSTRALIA | Apr. 13, 2020 23:11
00Reply


it has a longer duration to allow travel of families from farther away to go home and be with families. This may be the only time in the year that families will get together. Some companies have make up days for work.
Answered by Charlie Ryder from UNITED KINGDOM | Jul. 13, 2020 04:21
00Reply


Red represents good luck, which people particularly like for the new year so they get a more lucky year ahead of them. It is also said to scare away an evil, mythical Chinese creature called Nian (pronounced nyen).
Answered by maybe not | Dec. 18, 2020 12:47
00Reply


It stands for good luck and scares the evil spirits away
Answered by Bertie | Feb. 01, 2021 07:26
00Reply


cool answer
Answered by niehuhdb | Feb. 08, 2021 06:31
00Reply


li chun sun
Answered by Nigga | Feb. 21, 2021 16:53
00Reply


I am not chinese i have no idea what u say
yummy rice
Answered by Bobby joe | Feb. 28, 2021 14:16
00Reply


Cool😋😋
Answered by Color_fulRose | Feb. 02, 2022 08:24
00Reply


It represents good luck, and it is supposed to scare away evil spirits.
Answered by Xu Ziyu | Oct. 17, 2022 06:26
00Reply


im Chinese yes red means luck
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