Spring Festival: all you need to know about China’s most important new year festival

Editor’s note:

There are two New Year's celebrations for the Chinese people. We celebrate January 1st, like everyone else, but our most important new year celebration is Spring Festival, commonly known as Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year. It is the most important celebration in China and several other Asian countries, including Malaysia and Singapore. Over the course of the two week-long festival, which usually culminates on the eve of the Spring Festival, various cultural components, celebrations, and rituals are observed daily.

This year’s Spring Festival falls on February 10. According to the Chinese zodiac, a 12-year cycle with each year represented by a specific animal, 2024 is the Year of the Long (dragon)!

For most Chinese people, the five-character term “衣食住行乐”, which means “clothing, food, residence, movement and entertainment”, fully represents their basic needs and hopes in their future lives. Here are some interesting facts that you probably don’t know about this grand festival!