Every year in America, according to the Gregorian calendar New Years falls on the 1st of January, marking a new year. However, in other parts of the world, the Yin calendar (also known as the Chinese calendar) is used to mark the start of the New Year according to the lunar cycle. In ancient China 2697 BC, long before there was technology to represent a full rotation around the sun, Chinese scholars studied the phases of the moon to determine the rotation around the sun. While relatively speaking, the Chinese scholars were close, their predictions were replaced in 1582 by the Gregorian calendar, which is now used commonly throughout the world.

To this day, Lunar New Year is celebrated, marking the new year of the Yin calendar and a complete cycle to the lunar phases. As well as using numbers to represent the year, the Yin calendar makes use of the Chinese zodiac characters. The order of the Zodiac corresponds with a fable about a race, and their ranking in the race is the order they will appear throughout the years. Once the 12 animal years run through it restarts at the beginning again with the rat. The order of the animals is: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, pig. This past year the zodiac was a rabbit and now starting on February 10th, it will be another year of the dragon. 

Lunar New Year is celebrated differently than a normal western New Year. During the Gregorian New Year, many people watch football, drink, stay up until 12 on New Years Eve, on Lunar New Year, people decorate their homes in red and gold for good luck throughout the year. In some cultures, people hang 12 grapes over their doors to represent protection throughout the year. During the holiday in China, a week long of celebrations commence. There are holiday markets, where people spend time with family and eat together. They also give each other gifts or money, just as people do during the Christmas season. To ensure luck throughout the year, people don’t just decorate their homes, but they also conger luck through what they eat during the New Year celebrations. People eat “lucky foods” such as pork, fish, grapes, noodles and rice, cakes and sweets, and many other things to ensure luck for their family throughout the year. The superstition created games as well, with some foods, specifically treats, there are markers to represent luck or not, while in other treats there could be neutral luck markers, creating a gamble in return for a treat.

Throughout the Lunar New Year, older people also give money or gifts to the younger generations. The gifts often come wrapped in red and it is very common to give money in red envelopes. The envelopes are usually adorned with gold and the corresponding year’s animal, this year, the envelopes will have dragons on them.

Even though Lunar New Year has different traditions and celebrations than the western New Year, the holiday still represents prosperity throughout the year.