All you need to know about the Chinese Year Of The Red Horse

Early in the morning of the first day of the lunar new year, people also have to visit and greet each other with family and friends. However, in the folk traditional sense, Chinese New Year starts from the Kitchen God Worshiping on the 23rd of the 12th lunar month (or even the Laba Festival), until the 19th of the first lunar month. Modern people set the Spring Festival on the first day of the first lunar month, ending on the 15th day of the first lunar month (Lantern Festival), with New Year’s Eve and the first day of the first lunar month as the climax. On this day, people from all over China will immerse themselves in a strong festive atmosphere, with every household decorating red and full of joy.
The first day of the Chinese New Year falls on the new moon that appears between 21 January and 20 February.a Chinese New Year dates vary slightly between years, but it usually comes during the period from January 21st to February 20th in Gregorian calendar. The Chinese New Year of 2026 falls on February 17th Ringospin Casino (Tuesday), and will last to February 21th.
The villagers then understood that the Nian was afraid of the colour red and loud noises. The day after, the villagers came back to their town and saw that nothing had been destroyed. According to legend, Chinese New Year started with combating a mythical beast called the Nian (a beast that lives under the sea or in the mountains that looks like a lion with horns) during the annual Spring Festival.

Public holiday

It is also recorded that people linked the firecrackers with hemp rope and created the bian pao (鞭炮, “gunpowder whip”) in the Song dynasty. The firecracker was still called bao zhu (爆竹), thus equating the new and old traditions. Later, under the Song, people discarded the bamboo and started to use paper to wrap the gunpowder in cylinders, in imitation of the bamboo. After gunpowder was invented in the Tang dynasty and widely used under the Song dynasty, people modified the tradition of firing bamboo by filling the bamboo pole with gunpowder, which made for louder explosions. As imperial examinations became essential and reached their heyday under the Tang dynasty, candidates curried favour to become pupils of respected teachers and to get recommendation letters. Another theory is that bai nian tie was derived from the Han dynasty’s name tag, men zhuang (門狀, “door opening”).
In ancient Chinese society, it was the only day when young girls were allowed to go out to admire the lanterns and meet boys. It marks the departure of winter and the beginning of the spring season. The highlight of the whole Spring Festival, the Lantern Festival happens on the 15th and final day (March 3 in 2026). Different communities in Asia will serve various “birthday” foods on that day. Day three of the Lunar New Year, which falls on February 19, is named chi kou/cek hau, or red mouth.

New York City

The celebration attracts between 300,000 and 500,000 people yearly, according to the organisers. In London, celebrations take place in Chinatown, Leicester Square, and Trafalgar Square. Many people also celebrate by going to temples across Southern California, and the largest temple celebration is held at Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights. Starting in 2014, there are also larger celebrations at the Orange County Fair and Events Center in Costa Mesa, which attract over 50,000 visitors.

• While the family dinner was traditionally celebrated at the house of the oldest family members, going to restaurants for New Year’s Eve is getting more popular; some restaurants may have special dinners to foster the family reunions of Sino-Mauritians.
• This is why wearing the fiery color, along with hanging banners and lighting firecrackers or fireworks, are Lunar New Year traditions, all of which are still followed today.
• And every year, a heavenly stem (one of five elements, which fall into the yin or yang category) is paired with an earthly branch (one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals).
• Later, under the Song, people discarded the bamboo and started to use paper to wrap the gunpowder in cylinders, in imitation of the bamboo.
• According to Chinese mythology, the order of the zodiac animals was decided by a Great Race held by the Jade Emperor.
• —Wishing you a happy new year, good luck, and all the best!

Several foods are consumed to usher in wealth, happiness, and good fortune. These packets contain money in an amount that reflects good luck and honorability. Red envelopes may be distributed during the reunion dinner to the immediate family. Certain Chinese characters can represent luck as well, such as the Chinese word for tangerine (桔 jú), which contains the Chinese character for luck (吉 jí). The Chinese word for pomelos (柚 yòu) sounds similar to ‘to have’ (有 yǒu); disregarding its tone, however, it sounds exactly like ‘again’ (又 yòu). The pronunciations of these Chinese words are said to harbor luck and prosperity, such as the Chinese pronunciation for orange (橙 chéng), which sounds the same as the Chinese for ‘success’ (成).

Day 5: Welcoming the God of Wealth

In 1928, the ruling Kuomintang party decreed that Chinese New Year would fall on 1 January of the Gregorian calendar, but this was abandoned due to overwhelming opposition. In the chapter, “Ending of a Year” (歲除) in Wulin jiushi (武林舊事), concubines of the emperor prepared a hundred and twenty coins for princes and princesses to wish them longevity. It was also during the Song dynasty that people started to give money to children in celebration of a new year. Both bao zhu (爆竹) and bian pao (鞭炮) are still used today to celebrate the Chinese New Year and other festive occasions.

Ensemble pour une Suisse où tout le monde a son mot à dire

Many believe that a big cleanup should take place at home on the 28th day of the last lunar month, which falls on February 15 this year. Every animal in this zodiac system, which is called Sheng Xiao, is believed to have a personality that represents the year and the people born during that year. Some people prepare and enjoy special foods on certain days during the holiday. Since the mid-1990s people in China have been given seven consecutive days off work during the Chinese New Year. During the 15 days of celebration, breaking objects is considered a bad omen, as it is thought to bring bad luck, and gifting or buying new books is discouraged because the word for “book” sounds like “lose” in Chinese. Nevertheless, decorative lights and lanterns were displayed as usual, and Songkhla Province declared the day a public holiday.

Chinese New Year’s Eve

• A huge part of Asian culture is not just family and togetherness – but incredible food.
• Because in Chinese culture, red is the symbol of auspiciousness, joy and prosperity and it can drive out evil spirits and bring good lucks.
• The Chinese calendar defines the lunisolar month containing the winter solstice as the eleventh month, meaning that Chinese New Year usually falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice (rarely the third, if an intercalary month occursb).
• One popular Chinese New Year tradition is the thorough cleaning of one’s home to rid the residence of any lingering bad luck.
• The fever would eventually cause the child to have intellectual disabilities.
• When the sui was going to reach out and touch the child’s head, the pillow suddenly brightened with the golden light, and the sui was scared away, so the exorcism effect of “red paper wrapped copper money” spread in China (see also Chinese numismatic charms).
• Other activities include lighting firecrackers and giving money in red envelopes.

The wearing of new clothes is another clothing custom during the festival; the new clothes symbolize a new beginning. The burning of firecrackers also signifies a joyful time of year and has become an integral aspect of Chinese New Year celebrations. Once ignited, the firecracker lets out a loud popping noise and, as they are usually strung together by the hundreds, the firecrackers are known for their deafening explosions that are thought to scare away evil spirits. Each firecracker is rolled up in red paper, as red is auspicious, with gunpowder in its core.
The monster was afraid of loud noises, bright lights, and the color red, so those things were used to chase the beast away. They probably predate the Ming dynasty (1368–1644), but did not become widespread until then. New Year couplets printed in gold letters on bright red paper, referred to as chunlian (春聯) or fai chun (揮春), are another way of expressing wishes for an auspicious new year. Chinese New Year is often accompanied by loud, enthusiastic greetings, often referred to as 吉祥話 (jíxiánghuà) in Mandarin or 吉利說話 (Kat Lei Seut Wa) in Cantonese, loosely translated as “auspicious words or phrases”. In Budapest, celebrations have been held since 2017 in the Kőbánya district with many parades and performances. The largest of three parades has around 40 groups and 4,000 performers and is attended by more than 200,000 people in the 13th arrondissement.
In Taiwan, spring travel is a significant event known as the Spring Festival travel rush. In Taiwan, businesses traditionally reopen on the sixth day of the Chinese New Year, accompanied by firecrackers. During this time, many Koreans would visit their family, perform ancestral rites, wear the hanbok (한복; 韓服) / Chosŏn-ot (조선옷; 朝鮮옷), eat traditional food, and play traditional folk games. This 40-day period is called chunyun, and is known as the world’s largest annual migration. Owing to a large number of interprovincial travellers, special arrangements are made by railways, buses, and airlines starting from fifteen days before the New Year’s Day. In general, except for those in lucky colours like red and yellow, chrysanthemums should not be displayed at home during the New Year, because they are normally used for ancestral veneration.

On Chinese New Year day, it is customary for Sino-Mauritians to share niangao with their relatives and friends and to light firecrackers to ward off evil spirits. While the family dinner was traditionally celebrated at the house of the oldest family members, going to restaurants for New Year’s Eve is getting more popular; some restaurants may have special dinners to foster the family reunions of Sino-Mauritians. Mauritius is also the only country in Africa that lists the Chinese Spring Festival as a statutory public holiday. During the festival, the Chinese embassy in Islamabad arranges various cultural events in which Pakistani arts and cultural organizations and members of the civil society also participate. Observed by Thai Chinese and parts of the private sector, the festivities occur over three days, starting on the day before Chinese New Year’s Eve.
The first three days are filled with tributes to ancestors, festive games and foods such as rice cakes (tteokguk) and pancakes (jeon). In South Korea, for instance, the Lunar New Year festival is called Seollal. It’s believed these envelopes — known as hongbao/lai see — can protect children by warding off evil spirits, called sui. In many families, married people are expected to give out red packets filled with money to those who haven’t yet tied the knot — both children and unmarried juniors. For many followers, the Lunar New Year is an ideal time to visit a temple to make blessings depending on what the stars have to say about their particular zodiac sign for the coming months.