China is the most populated and most developed country in the world. China takes pride in its customs and traditions. China never ignores its customs and traditions, may it be their Dragon Boat Festival, Mid-Autumn Festival or the most popular New Year Eve which is not celebrated on the 1st of January, just like the rest of the world do. Instead, China celebrates her New Year according to the lunar calendar. The Chinese New Year starts with the Spring Festival. That is why it is sometimes also called as chunjie (春节), or the Spring Festival. Hence, the Chinese may celebrate two holidays; whether it be the Spring Festival or the New Year holiday.
Unlike the rest of the world that celebrates the New Year on just 1st January, Chinese do not do so. Their date of the festival changes according to the phases of the moon. So, the Chinese do not celebrate their New Year on one date only. Their New Year date may fall from January 21 to February 20. It is considered to be the longest holiday in China.
This year, 2020, Chinese New Year was celebrated on Saturday, the 25th of January. Although Chinese holiday was started on 24th as the New Year’s Eve, they had started their preparation one month ago.
Here’s what you need to know:
The Chinese Horoscope 2020 consists of twelve animals representing every year. They are rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. This time, the Chinese are celebrating the Rat Year.
Here are some important facts about the Chinese New Year:
In China, people celebrate two holidays on the same date, Chinese New Year and the Spring Festival. It demonstrates that although it is still cold the winter season is passing by and the spring season is just set in. That is why the Chinese also celebrate the coming of the spring.
If we follow the lunar calendar, the Spring Festival will start on January 1st and will end on 15th when there is a full moon on the sky. If you try to follow the solar calendar to calculate its date, you will get a different date. Chinese New Year ranges from January 21 to February 20. The Chinese new year 2019 started on February 5th while the chinese new year 2021 will start from Friday, 12 February. Some Chinese use the solar calendar but they still interpret lunar calendar to determine holidays.
In the Chinese zodiac, there is a popular myth which tells us that the Jade Emperor invited all the animals in his party to set the months of the year and told that the month order will be in the name of the animals according to the order as these come to the party. The rat was clever enough to get a ride on the back of an ox and when they reached the party, the rat jumped down and reached the touching line before ox. Hence, the rat was the reaching first so the Chinese New Year starts with the rat in the zodiac calendar.
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