Chinese New Year: 2019 is Year of the Pig
Bengaluru, Feb 4: The Chinese New Year officially will begin on Tuesday with the Spring Festival officially and ending with the Lantern Festival on February 19th. According to the Chinese zodiac, 2019 is a Year of the Pig , and it's an Earth Pig year.
In Chinese astrology, each year belongs to a Chinese zodiac animal according to the 12-year cycle. The Pig occupies the last (12th) position in the Chinese Zodiac. You are a "Pig Chinese Zodiac native" if you are born in one of these years: 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, 2007, 2019 .
How Chinese celebrate New Year
1.
Chinese
New
Year
Decorations
-
Lucky
Red
Items
Every
street,
building,
and
house
where
Spring
Festival
is
celebrated
is
decorated
with
red.
Red
is
the
main
color
for
the
festival,
as
red
is
believed
to
be
an
auspicious
color.
Red
Chinese
lanterns
hang
in
streets;
red
couplets
are
pasted
on
doors;
banks
and
official
buildings
are
decorated
with
red
New
Year
pictures
depicting
images
of
prosperity
2.
Chinese
New
Year's
Eve
-
Family
Time
Chinese
New
Year
is
a
time
for
families
to
be
together.
Wherever
they
are,
people
are
expected
to
be
home
to
celebrate
the
festival
with
their
families.The
New
Year's
Eve
dinner
is
called
'reunion
dinner',
and
is
believed
to
be
the
most
important
meal
of
the
year.
3.
Firecrackers
and
Fireworks
at
Chinese
New
Year
It
has
long
been
a
Chinese
tradition
to
set
off
firecrackers
from
the
first
minute
of
their
new
year.
Fireworks
have
increasingly
been
added
to
the
cacophony.
From
public
displays
in
major
cities
to
millions
of
private
celebrations
in
China's
rural
areas,
setting
off
firecrackers
and
fireworks
is
an
indispensable
festivity.
4.
Chinese
New
Year
Gifts
and
Red
Envelopes
Like
at
Christmas
in
other
countries,
people
exchange
gifts
during
the
Spring
Festival.
In
rural
areas
and
for
older
people
the
New
Year
gift
giving
tradition
is
still
strong,
but
increasingly
younger
people
prefer
just
to
receive
red
envelopes
(by
hand
or
electronically).
The Spring Festival is long and has specific activities and traditions for each day. As usual, they vary between regions. Here is a short summary of what may be on the schedule.
Solar date (2018) | Lunar date | Title |
---|---|---|
January 28th | December 23rd | Little Year (小年—xiǎo nián) |
February 4th | December 30th | New Year's Eve (除夕—chúxì) |
February 5th | January 1st | Spring Festival (春节—chūn jié) |
February 6th | January 2nd | To the in-law’s (迎婿日—yíng xù rì) |
February 7th | January 3rd | Day of the Rat (鼠日—shǔ rì) |
February 8th | January 4th | Day of the Sheep (羊日—yáng rì) |
February 9th | January 5th | Break Five (破五—pò wǔ) |
February 10th | January 6th | Day of the Horse (马日—mǎ rì) |
February 11th | January 7th | Day of the Human (人日—rén rì) |
February 12th | January 8th | Day of the Millet (谷日节—gǔ rì jié) |
February 13th | January 9th | Providence Health (天公生—tiān gōng shēng) |
February 14th | January 10th | Stone Festival (石头节—shí tou jié) |
February 15th | January 11th | Son-in-law Day (子婿日—zǐ xù rì) |
February 16th–18th | January 12th–14th | Lantern Festival Preperations |
February 19th | January 15th | Lantern Festival (元宵节—yuán xiāo jié) |