Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, marks the beginning of a new year on the traditional lunisolar Chinese calendar. It is one of the most important holidays in Chinese culture. Marking the end of winter and the beginning of spring, this festival takes place from Chinese New Year's Eve to the Lantern Festival, held on the 15th day of the year. The first day of the Chinese New Year falls on the new moon that appears between 21 January and 20 February.

New Year

The New Year is the time or day at which a new calendar year begins and the calendar's year count increments by one. Many cultures celebrate the event in some manner. In the Gregorian calendar, the most widely used calendar system today, New Year occurs on January 1. This was also the first day of the year in the original Julian calendar and the Roman calendar.

Year

A year is a unit of time based on how long it takes the Earth to orbit the Sun. In scientific use, the tropical year and the sidereal year are more exact. The modern calendar year, as reckoned according to the Gregorian calendar, approximates the tropical year by using a system of leap years.

Chinese New Year

Proper noun

1. An annual Chinese festival marking the beginning of the new year according to the Chinese lunisolar calendar, starting on the first day of the first lunar month and traditionally ending on the fifteenth day when there is a full moon. It is often celebrated by visiting family and friends, and giving gifts of money in red envelopes (ang pows or hongbao).