Happy Chinese New Year

It's Chinese New Year season again! 

As we prepare to usher in the year of the Ox, have fun learning about Chinese New Year traditions with our fun resources. 

Chinese New Year or the Spring Festive (春节）is when Chinese celebrate the beginning of the new lunar year. It marks the end of the winter season and the start of the spring season. Preparations for the new year typically starts as early as a month before the first day of the new year where families will plan towards gathering for an annual reunion dinner on New Year's Eve (年除). It is tradition for every family to thoroughly clean their house, symbolizing the clearing of the old to welcome the new (除旧迎新). Other traditions include decorating the home with red couplets and paper cuts. However, the all-time favorite traditional is the gifting of red paper packets (红包), usually containing money blessings from the elders to children. Grown-up children may also gift their elders with red packets. 

Chinese New Year legends and mythology

The Story of NIAN (年) tells the story of the origins of the Lunar New Year and provides an explanation to some of the lasting traditions that the Chinese practice every new year. 

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The Story of the Chinese ZODIAC tells the story of how the 12 Chinese Zodiac animals were chosen. 12 years form a cycle in the Chinese Lunar calendar and each year is represented by an animal. Learn more about the 12 Zodiac animals here or watch a video of the Story of the Chinese Zodiac.

Do you know what the 12 zodiac animals are?

Click here to watch the Story of the Chinese Zodiac.