The Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is a significant celebration marking the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. It starts with the first of the twenty-four solar terms known as lichun, coinciding with the onset of the spring season.

Festivities typically begin on Chinese New Year’s Eve and culminate with the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the year. This important holiday is observed by Chinese communities worldwide, including those in Southeast Asia and beyond, with various customs and traditions.

It is a time to honor deities and ancestors, with practices such as cleaning homes to usher in good luck, decorating with red paper-cuts symbolizing prosperity, and exchanging red envelopes containing money for good fortune.

Chinese New Year is one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture, and has strongly influenced Lunar New Year celebrations of its 56 ethnic groups. This year the lunar year fell on the 10th of January. Happy Chinese New Year!