How Long Is Chinese New Year (And Why)?

How Long Is Chinese New Year (And Why)?

Exact Answer: 15 To 16 Years

Though all the living organisms live in the same world, the cultures differ in every single country in every corner of the continents. There are some countries which have similar traditions and festivals, while the traditions of other countries are entirely different from the others. Some countries don’t celebrate festive occasions that are celebrated over half of the world, for some countries and states, the date and day can change, and there are many other variations in these festivities too.

One amazing fact is that, though almost the entire world celebrates their new year on January 1st, the Chinese celebrate another new year, known as the Chinese New Year every year, apart from the regular ones they celebrate along with the countries across the world.

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How Long Is Chinese New Year?

Chinese CalendarTime of the year
Chinese New Year’s Eve11th February
Chinese New Year Date (2021)12th February
Chinese New Year Date (2022)1st February

The entire festivities last for around 15 to 16 days, with everything that makes the day auspicious and joyful. There are many things known about the Chinese culture, the separate “Chinese new year”, and everything that happens during those 15 to 16 days.

Unlike the usual new year, which is celebrated just on January 1st, the Chinese new year is celebrated for 16 days, starting from the Chinese New year’s eve, ending in the Lantern Festival. Certain traditions happen between these 16 days and they are certainly worth knowing and understanding. To understand more about the Chinese new year, it is better to first learn their culture.

The Chinese new year celebrations are technically split up into many parts. First, in the preceding days until the Chinese new year’s eve, which will be on the 30th of the 12th lunar month, the Chinese will clean out their house and go on shopping for the new year. After that, on the Chinese new year’s eve, they start putting up the spring decorations, that have been passed along for generations.

Chinese families host a reunion dinner for the whole family, and they also have the ritual of giving lucky money in red envelopes to the kids in the family. After everything is over, they stay up late, waiting for the year to begin.

Why Is A Chinese New Year That Long?

On the new year, they celebrate the day by bursting fireworks and crackers, and they also have the authentic tradition of offerings their prayers to their ancestors in the form of sacrifices. The following week, they visit their friends, relatives, and everybody they love and spend some time together with them. After the first week, almost everybody goes back to their usual schedule of going to work, school, and their daily activities, but the festivities don’t end there.

On the 15th day, which is also known as the Lantern Festival, lanterns are lit and they are let up in the sky. As a customary tradition, the Chinese eat sweet dumplings and more fireworks are lit, finishing off the day. In 2021, The Chinese New Year’s Eve was on February 11th, and the New Year was on the next day, February 12th, and the Chinese New Year Date will be on February 1st.

The Chinese New Year Holiday falls around spring, and the spring festival is a national holiday in China, and spring is when the Chinese new year falls. Almost all the government offices, universities, schools, and even banks.

Chinese New Year is also called the spring festival, and though the festival will last for about 23 days, the celebration only lasts for 15 days.

Conclusion

According to mythology, the day Shun, one of ancient China’s mythological emperors, took the throne about 4000 years ago, and after that, he took his ministers to worship the earth and heaven, and the day he took that step is marked as the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar.

This is the main story of the Chinese New Year, and after the Chinese adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1911, the Chinese new year was adapted as the spring festival. Even though the day is declared as a government holiday, public transport will be available.

References

  1. https://www.jstor.org/stable/40068199
  2. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781315886879-13/wishing-good-health-prosperity-happiness-exploring-rituals-traditions-chinese-new-year-leanne-white-daniel-leung

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