Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year is a holiday that marks the start of a new year on the lunar calendar. It is celebrated by people in China, Vietnam, South Korea, and many other parts of Asia, as well as by people of Asian heritage all around the world. The date changes each year because it follows the moon. It usually falls between late January and the middle of February.

A lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon instead of the sun. Each month begins with a new moon. The new year starts on the second new moon after the shortest day of winter. So it lands on a different day every year. The holiday lasts much longer than a single day. In China, it is called the Spring Festival and runs for 15 days. It ends with the Lantern Festival under the first full moon of the year.

Different countries celebrate in different ways. In China, the holiday is called Chunjie. In Vietnam, it is called Tet. In Korea, it is called Seollal. Families clean their homes before the new year to sweep out bad luck from the year before. They cook special foods, visit their parents and grandparents, and give thanks to ancestors. Many people wear red, which is thought to bring good fortune and scare away bad spirits.

Food is a huge part of the holiday. In China, families eat dumplings shaped like old gold coins, long noodles for a long life, and fish for plenty. In Vietnam, people make banh chung, a sticky rice cake wrapped in green leaves. In Korea, families share tteokguk, a soup with sliced rice cakes. Eating tteokguk is said to make you one year older.

Children look forward to red envelopes called hongbao in Chinese or li xi in Vietnamese. Adults give these envelopes, filled with money, to younger family members for good luck.

The Chinese zodiac assigns an animal to each year, in a cycle of 12. The animals are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. People born in a certain year are said to share traits with that year's animal. An old story says these animals once raced across a river to decide the order, and the clever rat hitched a ride on the ox to win.

Outside, dragon dances and lion dances wind through the streets. Firecrackers pop loudly. The noise is meant to chase away a monster from old legend named Nian, whose name also means "year."