Chinese New Year: what the year of the tiger means and how it is celebrated

It is the most important day in the Chinese calendar: more than a billion people will celebrate with their families, watch parades and pray for good fortune in the coming year.

Is he Chinese New Year, which this 2022 starts on February 1.

What happens during Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year (also known as Lunar New Year) begins with the rising of the second new moon after the winter solstice (December 21).

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This can occur on any date between January 21 and February 20.

Also known as the Spring Festival, Chinese communities around the world celebrate the New Year.

The festivities bid farewell to the old year and are meant to bring luck and prosperity in the new one.

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There are family feasts and outdoor shows complete with firecrackers, fireworks and often dancing dragons. The main celebrations are held on New Year’s Eve and New Year’s Day.

Millions of people will travel across China, sometimes thousands of miles, to celebrate with their families.

Red is the color of good luck in China. (GETTY IMAGES).

People decorate their houses with red for good luck and children receive money in envelopes from Red color sparkly.

The celebrations last two weeks and end on February 15 this year with the lantern festival, which marks the full moon.

Since the 1990s, people in China have a week off for the new Year. According to the country’s Ministry of Commerce, people today spend more than 820 billion yuan (about US$130.000 millones) on purchases and meals during this period.

Year of the Tiger

Each year is associated with one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals.

This is the Year of the Tiger. It is said that children born in this year will be brave, competitive and strong.

Children born in this year are said to be brave, competitive and strong. (GETTY IMAGES).

In Cantonese, the main language of southern China and Hong Kong, the New Year’s greeting is “Gong Hei Fat Choy” (恭喜發財), which means “I wish you prosperity.” In Mandarin, people say “Xin Nian Kuai Le” (新年快乐), which simply means “Happy New Year.”

What are the origins of the Chinese New Year?

Chinese New Year is believed to date back to siglo XIV a. C., when the Shang dynasty ruled.

Its origins are steeped in legend. One story says that a monster called Nian (“Year”) attacked the village populations at the beginning of each year.

The celebrations are usually events of intense and bright colors, where red predominates. (GETTY IMAGES).

Nian was afraid of loud noises, bright lights, and the color red. The people used these things to drive the beast away.

Since the dragon is a Chinese symbol of power and good fortune, dragon dances, during which a long and colorful dragon puppet is paraded through the streets, are held in many regions of the country as the culminating event of the festivities.

The New Year is also the time when people clean their homes thoroughly to get rid of any bad luck left over from the previous year.

What other countries celebrate at this time?

Throughout East Asia, countries will also celebrate a new year according to the same lunar calendar.

In Vietnam, that day is called Tết Nguyên Đán, or Tết, which means Festival of the First Morning of the First Day.

People clean their houses and decorate them with fresh flowers, such as peach blossoms and kumquats. The pink of the peach blossom represents energy and the kumquat represents prosperity.

In North Korea and South Korea celebrate Seollal, which lasts three days. Korean families serve food to ancestors in a ritual called Charye, to gain their blessings for the coming year.

In South Korea, canned meat has become a favorite New Year’s gift, with people paying up to $75 for gift baskets.

In Mongolia, people offer their prayers at altars or shrines made from piles of stones. (GETTY IMAGES).

In Mongolia, the festival is called Tsagaan sar. Some there call it the White Moon festival. People offer their prayers at altars or shrines made from piles of stones.

They also exchange snuff bottles, which are believed to bring people together.

How is Chinese New Year celebrated around the world?

New York holds a firecracker ceremony, in which some 600,000 will explode in Sara D. Roosevelt Park. Afterwards there will be lion dances and parades through the streets of Chinatown.

Buenos Aires and other Latin American cities also celebrate the arrival of the Chinese New Year. (GETTY IMAGES).

Singapore hosts a street parade called Chingay, which features floats, colorful costumes, live performances, and fireworks.

Manchester is home to one of the UK’s oldest and largest Chinese communities and at New Year’s its 53 meter long dragon parades through the streets to the city’s Chinatown.

In Latin America, cities such as Buenos Aires, Havana or Mexico City, among many others, also have their own activities and celebrations to mark the beginning of the Chinese New Year.

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Source: Elcomercio