The meaning of Chinese Lunar New Year Celebrations By BICC

Although it is still very cold outside, Chinese people believe that Spring season has arrived. The Chinese Lunar New Year is regarded as a celebration of Spring, thus the Chinese Lunar New Year is also called the Spring Festival (traditional Chinese: 春節; pinyin: Chūnjié). 

The Chinese Calendar follows the moon cycle, and this year, the Lunar New Year  falls on Thursday, Feb 19th (new moon). But the Chinese also follow the solar calendar, which divides the year into 24 seasonal segments. The celebrations for the Spring Festival usually start on 4th of February, which marks the 1st  segment of the solar segments and is regarded as the first day of spring (LiChun).

The Spring Festival is the longest holiday of the year. In the past, people used to celebrate for a whole month, but now, most of the celebrations start on New Year’s Eve (ChuXi) and finish on March 5th with the Lantern festival (full moon). As part of the New Year Celebrations, people spend time with their families, they eat traditional dishes like steamed buns and dumplings, family members and friends give money to the children in red envelopes (Hong Bao) and everyone wears something new on the New Year’s Day.

There is a little poem that describes the Chinese celebrations best.

二十三糖瓜粘、(pinin: Er Shi San Tang Gua Zhan, Translation: on the 23rd day of the lunar year <11th of Feb 2015> stick the malt sugar together
二十四扫房子、(pinyin: Er Shi Si Sao Fangzi, Translation: on 24th of the lunar year <12th Feb 2015> clean the house
二十五磨豆腐、(pinyin: Er Shi Wu Mo Doufu, Translation: on the 25th of the lunar year <13th Feb 2015> grind the tofu
二十六去割肉、(pinyin: Er Shi Liu, Qu Ge Rou, Translation: on the 26th of the lunar year <14th Feb 2015> go cut the meat
二十七杀只鸡、(pinyin: Er Shi Qi, Sha Zhi Ji, Translation: on the 27th of the lunar year <15th of Feb 2015> kill a chicken
二十八把面发、(pinyin: Er Shi Ba Ba Mian Fa, Translation: on the 28th of the lunar year <16th of Feb 2015> , leaven the dough
二十九蒸馒头、(pinyin: Er Shi Jiu Zheng Man Tou, Translation: on the 29th of the lunar <17th of Feb 2015>, steam the buns
三十晚上熬一宿 (Pin Yin: San Shi Wan Ao Yi Xiu, Translation: on the 30th of the lunar year <18th of Feb 2015> stay up all night.

Have a Happy Lunar New Year! ChunJie Kuai Le! 春节快乐！

 BICC Team 
www.hibicc.com