Chinese New Year 2022

Chinese New Year is also known as the name of Spring Festival or Lunar New Year. It is the main festival in China and an important event in a few other East Asian countries.

Lunar New Year is known as Seollal in Tsagaan Sar in Mongolian, Tet in Vietnam,  and South Korea. Celebrations of the Chinese / Lunar New Year 2022 will also be held in Western cities, like London, Vancouver, Sydney, and New York.

This is the festival that celebrates the start of the new year on the classic lunisolar Chinese calendar. It was likewise a time to honor deities also ancestors, and it has also become a time to visit and feast on family members. 

The celebrations likewise last two weeks in total, from Chinese New Year’s Eve to the Lantern Festival. It is held on the 15th day of the lunar year.

Traditions and regional customs generally vary but share the same theme: seeing out the old year and welcoming in the prosperity and luck of the new year. 

Highlights of Lunar New Year 2022

Lunar New Year 2022 will be celebrated on February 1st, 2022 is the year of the Tiger. China’s Public holidays will be started from January 31st to February 6th, 2022.

• It is also known as Lunar New Year, Spring Festival.
• In the Chinese language: 春节 Chūn Jié /chwn-jyeah/
• Celebration date in 2022: Tuesday, Feb. 1st, Tiger
• Holidays: 7 days
• Celebrations: Decoration of New Year, Dinner of New Year’s Eve, Fireworks and Firecrackers, dragon dance, red envelopes….

Chinese New Year Animal: 2022 – Year of the Tiger 

Every Chinese year is connected with an animal sign by the Chinese zodiac cycle, in which characters 12 animals sing in the order Rooster, Dog, Pig, Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey.

This 2022 is the year of the tiger according to the Chinese zodiac cycle. The latest and the incoming Tiger years are 1950, 1062, 1974, 1986, 1998, 2010, and 2022.

Your Chinese zodiac sign is the tiger if you were born in one of these years. And, this sign is associated with bravery, exorcising evils, and strength.  2022 is a Water Tiger year that only occurs after 60 years.  

Origin and Myth of Chinese New Year: Legend of Beast Nian

Chinese / Lunar New Year has an ancient history of over 3,000 years and is related to several myths. A famous legend tells of the mythical beast Nian. /Nyene/, sounds the same as a year in Chinese.

It shows up every Lunar Year’s Eve to eat livestock and people. To frighten the monster, people displayed red paper, lit candles, wore red clothes, and burned bamboo. These customs have been continued till the current time.

How Long is Chinese New Year 2022?

The public holidays in China for Lunar New Year are 7 days, from the Chinese New Year’s Eve to the sixth day of the new year lunar calendar.

Banks, offices, non-essential services, and other shops will close their doors for a week. Large retail outlets and hotels stay open and might be busier than regular.

School holidays are 4 weeks long and foreign workers leave their factories and construction jobs for 4 weeks to go back home.

In Macao, Hong Kong, and other Asian countries like Singapore, Malaysia, Korea, and Vietnam holidays are 1 to 3 days. People return to their beloved families and cook, eat, drink, and visit extended friends and families to exchange red envelopes and good wishes.

Upcoming Chinese New Year Dates and Calendar

The table below shows you when the Lunar New Year is celebrated from 2021 to 2023 and what the animals signs are for every Chinese zodiac year.

Year	Date of Chines New Year	Day	Animal Sign
2021	Feb.12	Friday	Ox
2022	Feb. 1	Tuesday	Tiger
2023	Jan.22	Sunday	Rabbit
2024	Feb.10	Saturday	Dragon
2025	Jan.29	Wednesday	Snake
2026	Feb.17	Tuesday	Horse
2027	Feb.6	Saturday	Goat
2028	Jan.26	Wednesday	Monkey
2029	Feb.13	Tuesday	Rooster
2030	Feb.3	Sunday	Dog
2031	Jan.23	Thursday	Pig
2032	Feb.11	Wednesday	Rat

Traditions of Chinese New Year

The main and essential activities of the Lunar New Year include Putting up decorations, offering sacrifices to ancestors, eating reunion dinner with family on the New Year’s evening, giving red envelopes and other gifts, fireworks, and firecrackers, and watching dragon and lion dance.

Below we discussed in detail the traditions of the Chinese / Lunar New Year:

1. Clean and Decorate Houses with Red Things

People clean their whole house before the arrival of the spring festival, which indicates sweeping away the bad luck of the previous year and making their homes ready to get good luck for the new year.

The main color of the festival is red, as red is considered to be an auspicious color for the Lunar New Year, indicating energy and prosperity.

According to them, it defends against negativity and evil spirits. Red couplets and New Year pictures are posted on doors, and Red lanterns hang in the streets.  

2. Offering Sacrifices to Ancestors

Value the dead ones is a Lunar New Year’s tradition that is kept to the word. A lot of Chinese people visit their loved ones’ graves before the reunion dinner and put an additional glass on the dinner table on New Year’s  Eve.

3. Enjoying a Family Reunion Dinner on the Evening of the Lunar New Year

Chinese New Year is a time for families to celebrate the event together. Lunar New Year’s eve is the most important and special time. Wherever people are expected to be at home to celebrate the event with their loved ones and families.

Chinese/ Lunar New Year’s Eve dinner is known as the “reunion dinner.” Huge families of various generations sit around a table and enjoy the food and precious time together.

4. Exchanging Red Envelopes and other Gifts 

The most general gifts are envelopes of red color, containing money in them. And, they are often given to children and seniors. The red envelopes money is also known as sui qian (压岁钱 /yaa sway chyen/).

Those who receive an envelope are wished another peaceful and safe year. Other famous Chinese New Year gifts are tea, fruits, candies, and alcohol.

5. Setting Off Firecrackers and Fireworks

From public displays in main cities to millions of private celebrations in rural areas of China, setting off firecrackers and fireworks is a necessary festive activity.

It is a way to frighten the evil and welcome the New Year’s arrival. Billions of fireworks go up at 12 am in China and the first minutes of the Lunar New Year.

6. Watching Lion and Dragon Dances

Dragon dance and lion dance are mostly seen during the Lunar New Year in China and in Chinatowns in many Western countries. They are performed to bring good luck and prosperity for the upcoming event or year. 

There are furthermore Lunar New Year customs and traditions, such as wearing brand new clothes staying up late on Lunar New Year’s Eve, watching the Spring Festival Gala, etc.

Chinese New Year Food

During the 16-day festival season, Lucky food is served especially at the family reunion dinner on  Lunar New Year’s Eve. Fish is an essential dish as it sounds like “surplus” in Chinese and indicates abundance.

People eat Niángāo (glutinous rice cake) to indicate a higher position or income as it sounds like a “year high.” there are 7 lucky foods to eat during Lunar New Year including Fish, Dumplings, Spring Rolls, Tangyuan (sweet rice balls), Niangao, Longevity Noodles, and Good Fortune Fruit. 

Chinese New Year Superstitions: Things You Must Stop Doing

Chinese people likewise believe that the year’s beginning affects the whole year, so the Spring Festival of China is a season of superstitions.

It is considered that what something looks like color or shape, and what its name sounds like, gives it ill-fated significance or auspicious. There are many other things that you can’t do that are explained below:

• Do not sweep up on New Year’s Day, if you do then you will sweep all your luck away.
• Do not eat porridge for breakfast, if you eat then you will become poor in the forthcoming year.
• Don’t wash your hair or clothes, otherwise, you will wash your fortune away.

Emotions For Chinese New Year

There is no particular emoji officially named after or representing the Chinese / Lunar New Year. but, people use a wide range of emojis including the China Flag emoji, 🎆 Firework emoji, and 🐉 Dragon emoji.

🧧 Red envelopes and 🧨 firecracker emojis are also used by people when they send Happy Chinese New Year to their friends and family. Some people also used the 🥮 Moon Cake emoji for the Mid-Autumn Festival.

The date of the Chinese New Year in 2022 is 1st February. In accordance with the  Chinese zodiac, 2022 is the year of the Tiger. This can be indicated in emoji by using the 🐯 Tiger face and 🐅 Tiger emoji.