Happy Chinese/Lunar New Year!
Without going too much into detail about it, I wrote a brief Funbag style Q&A about Lunar New Year. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask below. I wrote most of this based on my own personal knowledge from my upbringing. Feel free to correct me, as I am not nearly as cultured as my other Asian friends.
What is Chinese New Year? Why is it different than American New Year?"
Chinese New Year (will use CNY for short) is the “new year” that falls on the first of the Lunar Calendar, while the American New Year falls on the first of the Solar Calendar. CNY usually falls sometime in late January to mid-February. This year CNY is on February 8, 2016. Chinese people don’t actually follow the lunar calendar because the rest of the world uses the solar calendar, except for CNY and a few other holidays (Lantern Festival, Dragon Boat, etc). CNY is THE biggest holiday in Asia, period. Yes, it is bigger than NSD.
Is this year particularly special?
Yes-ish. It is the year of the Fire Monkey.
Monkey on of Fire!
Why is it the year of the Monkey?
The Chinese Zodiac is a 12 year cycle. This past year was the year of the Goat, this year is the Monkey, next is the Rooster. If you are born on a particular year, there are superstitions on what kind of person you are, and who you should/shouldn't marry. People born in the year of the Monkey are wise, intelligent, confident, charismatic, loyal, inventive and have leadership. The weaknesses of the Monkeys are being egotistical, arrogant, crafty, restless and snobbish.
You probably see these at your local Chinese restaurants:
Does it matter what year it is in the Zodiac calendar?
It matters for those who are superstitious. Dragons are the luckiest and have strong attributes, while Tigers are known to question authority and is therefore likely to cause trouble for himself, his family or to his employers at some stage of life. This is similar to the horoscope system.
Some countries get super-superstitious and this can happen: (yes, they will try to have babies to get dragons). I am a dragon's dragon's son, which is really lucky in Chinese culture. I am supposed to be Goku or something.
What do people do for CNY?
Families gather, people often travel far back to their parents/grandparents and eat, similar to Thanksgiving, but for 2 weeks. Extra special arrangements are made 2 weeks prior to CNY to allow for people to travel “back home”. Last year, New York City declared CNY a public school holiday--yes kids in NYC are off school today. Some kids in Asia get about a month off. Everyone go call your Senator to get this changed today.
It is projected that 3 billion people is traveling this time of year.
Do you get anything for CNY?
Outside of food and family bonding, red envelopes are given to anyone who is younger and single. Grandparents, aunts/uncles, parents, older siblings/cousins will give you money in a red envelope. I am still single, I will gladly receive your electronic red envelopes. Users of Baidu Wallet, China’s largest search engine developer, sent 4.2 billion red envelopes online containing a total of 300 million RMB (about $45.6 million).
Sometimes, you can go door-to-door to your neighbors and receive money, similar to Halloween.
What’s with the Big Dragon?
It is said that the loud music (drums, cymbals) in conjunction with the dragon/Lion dance will scare away the evil spirits. The same can be said about firecrackers. I did Dragon Dancing when I was in high school for CNY gigs. It requires a lot of training, choreography.
Dragon Dancing is really difficult, the head is super heavy and can easily cost a couple thousand to ship over from Asia.
How can I celebrate CNY?
- Eat Chinese Food. Don’t go to Panda Express.
- There is most likely a celebration of some sort locally, check it out.
- Wish your Asian friends “Happy New Year” on social media/text/in-person. If you approach this with an open mind, there is a lot you can learn about Asian culture without sounding ignorant.
- Google it to learn more.
TLDR: Happy Lunar/Chinese New Year! It is the year of the Monkey!
