Chinese New Year 2013 - The Year of the Snake

The first day of the Chinese New Year – February 10, 2013 – is the most important of Chinese holidays, celebrated by over 1.3 billion people in China and by millions of ethnic Chinese around the world. The dates change each year thanks to the specifics of the calendar, which is based on solar/lunar happenings — though most Chinese people use the Gregorian, or western calendar, for daily life, the traditional calendar is still employed for major holidays like Chinese New Year, also known as Lunar New Year. It’s a celebration that lasts for 15 days, culminating with the Lantern Festival. Each year is associated with one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. For 2013, it’s the Year of the Snake. 

The Snake, also called the Junior Dragon, is the sixth sign of the Chinese Zodiac, which consists of 12 Animal Signs. It is the enigmatic, intuitive, introspective, refined and collected of the Animal Signs.

Chinese New year: Rituals, Food, Family



Chinese New Year in London 2013

London's Chinese New Year celebrations are the largest outside Asia. Every year, hundreds of thousands of people descend on the West End to wish each other "Kung Hei Fat Choi" (or Happy New Year). Chinatown is at the centre of the New Year party. Food and craft stalls line the streets and a lion dance snakes through the crowds, stopping at restaurants to wish the owners good luck for the coming year.

   London Chinese New Year 2012: highlights

The most common Chinese ways of saying 
Happy New Year (恭禧發財) are Gong Xi Fa Cai (Mandarin) and Gong Hey Fat Choy (Cantonese). Even though the pronunciations are a little different, both are written the same way.

So, 恭禧發財!

Sources: earthsky.org / visitlondon.com / dearseptemberstore.blogspot.com





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