This year, Saturday, February 10, 2024 marks the beginning of the Lunar New Year. Every year, the date of the Lunar New Year is determined by the phase of the moon, and the lunar calendar is named after one of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac (derived from ancient Chinese folklore). Rotating in a cycle, these 12 animals are: the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the goat, the monkey, the rooster, the dog, and the pig.
To this day, Chinese holidays are governed by the traditional lunisolar calendar. The Lunar New Year was renamed by the leaders of the Republic of China as the “Spring Festival” when they officially adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1912. Today, the Spring Festival is celebrated in China and Hong Kong; the Lunar New Year is also celebrated in South Korea, Tibet, Vietnam, Singapore, Indonesia, Malaysia, and places with large Chinese populations. Its themes are reunion and hope, and it is a time for families to come together with plenty of food and rituals.
For the Chinese people, the Spring Festival lasts 40 days and has various sub-festivals and rituals. The New Year itself is a seven-day public holiday, and on New Year’s Eve, Chinese families traditionally celebrate with the most important meal of the year, a reunion dinner traditionally held at the home of the oldest family member.
In China, people often light fireworks, which are said to scare away the fearsome monster “Nian.” The color red is used in clothing and decorations to ensure prosperity, and people exchange red envelopes “hongbao” filled with lucky money (mainly for children and single adults). In Korea, people make rice cake soup and honor their ancestors during the Korean Lunar New Year, “Seollal.” During the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, “Tet,” flowers play an important role in the celebrations.
See the following link to find out which animal is associated with your birth year. Does your personality match the description?
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/celebrations/article/which-chinese-new-year-animal-are-you-like?