2023 Is the Year of the Rabbit or the Cat
Most Asian country celebrate the 2023 Lunar New Year with the year of the Rabbit. In Vietnamese culture, its the year of the Cat. Cat is that the earthly branch corresponding to “rabbit” is pronounced mao in Mandarin and meo in Vietnamese, which sounds similar to the Vietnamese word for “cat.” Another explanation comes from two variations of a popular legend about how the 12 zodiac animals were chosen.
Chinese New Year falls on a different day each year
Chinese New Year isn’t on the same day every year. It’s usually in late January or February. The date is worked out by the ‘New Moon’.
It is also known as ‘Spring Festival’
The Chinese New Year is also known as ‘Spring Festival’. This is because it signals the start of Spring! It celebrates the start of new life. The Chinese New Year isn’t only celebrated on one day. Traditionally it is celebrated across 15 days and ends when there is a full moon! It ends with the Lantern Festival.
Children receive red envelopes with money inside
During Chinese New Year, children receive red envelopes. The envelopes have money inside of them! The amount of money can be any amount but never includes the number 4. This is because the number four in Chinese sounds a bit like death!
Before the celebration it is tradition to spring clean the home to get rid of bad luck
Like many of us, people in China will clean their homes before the Chinese New Year celebrations. However, this is actually because they believe it will sweep away any bad luck in time for the New Year.
Lion and dragon dances are very popular around this time.
Lion and dragon dances are very popular in China, especially during the Chinese New Year.
It is believed that they will bring good fortune to the local area. During these dances, you will hear lots of loud drums. The loud noise is said to drive all of the bad luck and spirits away!
Red decorations are everywhere during the Chinese New Year
You might know that red is a lucky color in China, representing many positive things such as happiness, beauty, vitality, good luck, success, and good fortune.
The festival causes the world’s largest annual migration
For Chinese people, the most important part of the Chinese Spring Festival is to enjoy a reunion dinner with their families on New Year’s Eve, even if they have to travel long distances. 200 million people from Chinese mainland travel long distances for these holidays, and it is estimated that there are 3.5 billion journeys in China. Tens of millions of people travel in other countries too. This makes CNY the largest annual human migration in the world, known as the Spring Festival Travel Rush.