Lunar New Year 2022: Year of The Tiger

About Lunar New Year

On February 1, 2022, the year 4720 begins. It marks the first day of the Year of the Tiger in the Chinese calendar. The LNY is celebrated during the second new moon after the winter solstice, usually between January 21 and February 20 on the Gregorian calendar.

Festivities begin on the first day of the first lunar month on the Chinese calendar and continue until the 15th of the lunar month, when the moon is full.

Chinese legend holds that Buddha asked all the animals to meet him on New Year’s Day and named a year after each of the twelve animals that came. The animals in the Chinese calendar are the dog, pig/boar, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, and rooster.

Also, according to legend, people born in each animal’s year have some of that animal’s personality traits.

Preparations and fortune goodies

Preparations for the LNY usually begin at least a week before the Spring Festival begins. On the 26th day of the last lunar month, festive cakes and puddings are made.

The big cleansing is done on the 28th day. Fortune banners are hung on the 29th day. Fairs will be set up around cities during the last days of the year, selling fortune goodies and flowers for the new year.

The year ends on a high note with a big family reunion dinner on the 30th day, or Lunar New Year’s Eve – on January 31, this year.

The Lunar New Year menu is carefully chosen for its lucky meanings, including fish (the Chinese word for it sounds like the word for “surplus”), puddings (symbolises advancement) and foods that look like gold ingots (like dumplings).

After the feast, families will stay up past midnight to welcome in the new year.

Lunar New Year lasts 15 days

Just because the new year has begun doesn’t mean you’re allowed to rest. While most countries that observe LNY offer three to seven days of public holidays, celebrations don’t end until the 15th day of the first lunar month, also known as the Lantern Festival.

There is a list of superstitious dos and don’ts for the new year but the rule of thumb is to say a lot of “kung hei fat choy”or “gong xi fa cai” and avoid saying things that may sound like a less auspicious word.

During the festival, people will travel around to visit relatives, who will prepare snacks and fill up candy boxes for the visits – except for the third day of the month.

During the 15 days, married couples have to give out red packets filled with money to children (and unmarried adults) to wish them luck. The seventh day is renri, or the people’s birthday, when the Chinese mother goddess Nuwa is said to have created mankind.

Locals don’t call it Chinese New Year

In China, the festivities are known as Spring Festival or Lunar New Year, the new year is determined by the lunar calendar.

And the Chinese aren’t the only ones who observe it. From late January to mid-February, Vietnam and other countries celebrate LNY.

Traffic is (usually) chaos

LNY is basically like having an entire country throw a family reunion – all at once. Traffic Armageddon inevitably strikes. In China, the Spring Festival travel rush period (chunyun) is the country’s, if not the world’s, biggest season of human migration.

Whether pushing their way into packed buses, buying black-market tickets from scalpers or standing for hours on a crowded train, travellers do whatever it takes to see loved ones. With commuters and migrant workers returning home, China usually sees billions of journeys to take place each year.

Of course, that was before COVID-19 restricted travel and virtual reunions replaced face-to-face celebrations.

This year, China’s Ministry of Transportation expects 1.18 billion trips to be made during the LNY travel season, a 35 per cent increase from last year – but still much lower than the billion trips taken in 2019 before the pandemic.

Lunar New Year dos

Set off fireworks： The more fireworks or firecrackers you set off the better. Not only do you light up the night sky with a symphony of colour, but the loud banging sounds are thought to scare off evil spirits.

Eat dumplings: Eating dumplings around the holidays is a popular tradition in northern China and there are reasons for it. The Chinese word for them, “jiao zi”, is similar to the ancient word for new replacing the old. The shape of a Chinese-style dumpling resembles the pieces of gold that were used as money in ancient times. A plate full of dumplings looks like a big pile of gold, symbolising wealth in the coming year.

Clean your home: Sweep, mop, scrub, dust, vacuum, steam – do anything and everything to make sure your home is spick and span BEFORE the stroke of midnight on LNY eve, January 31.

Lunar New Year don’ts

Wash or cut your hair: Leave your hair as it is on the first day of the New Year. The Chinese character for hair is the same first character in the word for prosper.

Clean post-New Year: Make sure you clean up and throw out your trash BEFORE midnight. Otherwise you’re going to have to wait till the second day of the new lunar year.

Buy books: Avid readers will want to stock up on their books and magazines before the Lunar New Year, because it’s bad luck to buy them during the 15-day Spring Festival.