Chinese New Year has come around once again. Festivals up and down the UK and in China will mark the occasion and have already done so leading up to the event.
The start of the new Lunar year is today, February1, because tradition says the year must start on the day of the first new moon between January 21 and February 20.
The New Year is celebrated for 15 days each year.
Chinese New Year follows the lunar calendar, this is different to the Gregorian calendar used in the UK which tracks the Sun.
It is a huge event celebrated by an estimated 1.5 billion people per year, around one-fifth of the world's population.
So what is it, how is it celebrated and where does this ancient and interesting tradition come from?
How did Chinese New Year start?
It has taken a long time for the traditions we see today to develop.
It is estimated the tradition started around 3,500 years ago as a religious festival
There are various stories associated with the festival. One popular one involves the monster 'Nian', which means 'year'.
Nian would attack villages every year but was afraid of loud noises, the colour red and bright lights. This is one of the reasons we associate Chinese New Year with big displays and the colour red.
How do I say 'Happy New Year' in Chinese?
There are two common Chinese languages and a number of other dialects. Mandarin, spoken by around 70% of the population, and Cantonese, used as the official language in Hong Kong.
In Mandarin, for people you are already on good terms with, you can say 'Xīn ián hǎo'. this is pronounced as 'Shin-nyen haow' and means 'new Year goodness'.
If you want to text your friend this phrase using the proper symbols, use 新年好.
A more formal version means 'New Year happiness' and is 'Xīnnián kuàilè'. You can pronounce this as 'Shin-nyen Kwai-le' and text it as 新年快樂.
The best-known New year greeting is the Cantonese meaning for a rough translation of 'wishing you prosperity and good health'. This is pronounced 'gong hay fat choy' and is written as 恭喜發財.
Which animal is this year for Chinese New Year?
The old traditional tale of the zodiac means that each year is associated with an animal.
This year is the year of the tiger.
The order comes from the story of the great race, when animals raced each other for the Jade Emperor. The Emporer was so grateful he named a year after each of them.
Which animal is associated with my birth year?
The animals and years associated with them are as follows:
- Rat – 1924, 1936, 1948, 1960, 1972, 1984, 1996, 2008, 2020, 2032
- Ox – 1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021, 2033
- Tiger – 1926, 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, 2022, 2034
- Rabbit – 1927, 1939, 1951, 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999, 2011, 2023, 2035
- Dragon – 1928, 1940, 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012, 2024, 2036
- Snake – 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, 2013, 2025, 2037
- Horse – 1930, 1942, 1954, 1966, 1978, 1990, 2002, 2014, 2026, 2038
- Goat – 1931, 1943, 1955, 1967, 1979, 1991, 2003, 2015, 2027, 2039
- Monkey – 1932, 1944, 1956, 1968, 1980, 1992, 2004, 2016, 2028, 2040
- Rooster – 1933, 1945, 1957, 1969, 1981, 1993, 2005, 2017, 2029, 2041
- Dog – 1934, 1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018, 2030, 2042
- Pig – 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019, 2031, 2043
