Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year, also called the Spring Festival, opens the lunar new year. The calendar is lunisolar: the year begins at a new moon, and an extra month is added in some years so the festival stays in the same season.

Families gather for a reunion meal, elders give children money in red envelopes, and lion and dragon dances are held in many communities. Related lunar new year festivals are also marked in Vietnam, Korea, and elsewhere.

The civil date moves each year. This page does not print Chinese New Year as a fixed civil date. The tile below shows the next occurrence.

The Chinese name is Chunjie, the Spring Festival. The reunion meal is held on lunar new year's eve. The year takes its name from a 12-year animal cycle, and that name changes, so this page does not print an animal.