The 2020 Chinese New Year falls this Saturday, January 25, with Year of the Rat festivities lasting until Saturday, February 8. Several major cities claim to boast the biggest New Year’s party outside of Asia – including London, Sydney and San Francisco – but no one knows for sure which claim is true. (It's also quite close to Tokyo: just about 40 minutes away from Shibuya via the Tokyu Toyoko Line.) In China, people engage in huge treks across the country to be home in time for the celebrations which can last for days on end.

Sorry, there was a problem with your subscription. Unlike Chinese, Korean or Vietnamese New Year, Japanese celebrate their New Year on January 1. Chinese New Year differs from the ‘standard’ western New Year’s Day because it is based on the traditional Chinese calendar rather than the Gregorian one. In fact, an industry has been created as actors are hired to pose as boyfriends and girlfriends for embarrassed singles over the holiday season. The New Year is also seen as a time for honouring your gods and ancestors in the hope of bringing good fortune for the year to come. While it is commonly referred to in the West as ‘Chinese New Year’, the date is also celebrated across Korea, Vietnam, Singapore and elsewhere. As people flock home to spend the holiday with their relatives, the largest human migration of the year takes place  – known as ‘chunyun’ or ‘spring migration’.

They can also be given between employers and employees, as well as between friends. The calendar is also used in countries that have been influenced by, or have relations with, China – such as Korea, Japan and Vietnam, though occasionally the date celebrated may differ by one day or even one moon cycle due to using a meridian based on a different capital city in a different time zone or different placements of intercalary months. © 2020 JPIMedia Publications Ltd. The Gregorian calendar is now almost ubiquitous across the globe, although a few nations (like Ethiopia, Nepal and Iran) still retain their own calendars instead. Just as New Year celebrations finish in the West, folks are gearing up to mark Chinese New Year in the East!

Chinese New Year is one of the most celebrated dates on the calendar, with billions of people across China and beyond joining in the festivities. The colour red was also an important tool in defeating the monster, hence why everything will be decorated red during the New Year period. Here’s everything you need to know about Chinese New Year. This naming tradition comes from the animals of the Chinese zodiac, with each year being assigned one of the following animals – rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. History says, until 1873, during the Meiji Era (1868-1912), celebration of the Japanese New Year was based on the Chinese lunar calendar. Above all else, though, New Year is a time to be spent with family. The first day of January became the official New Year’s Day since five years after the Meiji Restoration. It was officially adopted there in 1912.

London’s celebration, which takes place across Chinatown and Trafalgar Square, is thought to attract a similar number each year. This has created an odd phenomenon known as ‘snatching red pockets’ in which people send one into a group chat and watch their friends scrap it out. In the latter, the festivities usually involve a street party over which a member of the royal family presides. Do people in Japan celebrate lunar new year? Chinese New Year is now a global event, with parties scheduled in cities all around the world. Children are given red envelopes filled with money from many of their older relatives in a gesture which is also designed to transfer good fortune between them. The lunisolar Chinese calendar determines the date of Lunar New Year. This places the New Year as beginning on the day of the first new moon that falls between 21 January and 20 February. It could more accurately be termed the ‘Lunar New Year’. So this year, why not enjoy the traditional festivities in the capital of Japan? New York made the date a public holiday in 2015. Children look forward to it particularly, knowing it will likely bring them plenty of precious little red envelopes filled with money. naming tradition comes from the animals of the Chinese zodiac, Is it safe to travel to China? The traditional Chinese calendar is still often used to help pick the dates for weddings, funerals and the like, with certain days believed to be more auspicious than others. Fireworks are a huge part of Chinese New Year celebrations, with more rockets set off on that night than on any other night of the year. Tokyo is most populous metropolitan area in world. You might have not decided the place of New Year celebrations. Although it did not originate in Japan, the Chinese zodiac, and the 12 animals that represent it, … This is in spite of the fact that the Gregorian calendar is now used in day to day life in China, as it is in most of the world. In 2020, Chinese New Year will fall on Saturday 25 January – it will be the year of the rat.

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Let’s celebrate 2020 Chinese New Year and Spring Festival in Tokyo. February 12, 2018 The lunar new year is known as Chinese new year, and it is normally celebrated around late January to sometime in February. Thanks to the pressure, many younger people feel to impress their parents and grandparents. January 25, 2020 marks the beginning of the Year of the Rat. Latest advice as quarantine restrictions introduced, The winning Premium Bonds numbers for October 2020, and how to check if you won, How to apply for the Green Homes Grant scheme, when it starts and what it covers, Donald Trump tests positive for coronavirus a month before US election. In more recent times, it has become fashionable to give digital red envelopes instead of physical ones. This naming tradition comes from the animals of the Chinese zodiac, with … Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore all enjoy huge celebrations featuring street parties, parades and dance competitions. Read More: Is it safe to travel to China? There are all kinds of taboos which must be avoided to prevent bad fortune, such as showering on New Year’s day or using words like ‘illness’ and ‘death’. This is because the traditional Chinese calendar which it is based on is measured by the position of the Moon, rather than by the Earth’s revolution around the Sun as it is in the Gregorian calendar. Introduction to Tokyo. This year it is on the 25th of January 2020 (depends on the country). Tokyo is not only a prefecture of Japan but also its capital. The animals are rotated in sequence based on a fable about them racing and the order in which they finished. Sydney’s street parade draws in over 100,000 people each year while San Francisco’s, which is one of the oldest on record, regularly draws over 500,000 plus a TV audience of millions. It is also a public holiday in countries where much of the population is of Chinese descent, like the Philippines and Thailand.