Tuesday is Chinese New Year of the Tiger 2022
By Austin Thomas
Chinese New Year is a traditional holiday that’s very important in China. Traditionally, Chinese New Year would begin on the last day of the month in the Chinese calendar, Chinese New Year’s Eve, and would end on the fifteenth day of the first month – the Lantern Festival.
This makes it the longest festival in the Chinese calendar. The date changes from year to year because it follows an ancient farmer calendar, which is based on phases of the moon.
Chinese New Year 2022, the Year of the Tiger, will be celebrated Tuesday 1st February 2022. The Tiger is considered to be brave, cruel and forceful. It is the symbol of power in Chinese culture.
Alternative names also include the Lunar New Year, as the Chinese calendar is lunisolar, and the Spring Festival, which is the literal translation of the modern Chinese name.
Coinciding with Spring Festival, Beijing 2022 celebrates togetherness
The family reunion dinner, pasting couplets and setting off fireworks are must-does during the Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival.
But for this upcoming Spring Festival, watching the Beijing Winter Olympics will also become an important activity.
The 2022 Spring Festival falls on February 1, three days before the opening of the Winter Games.
For foreign athletes, coaches, and media personnel, it is a unique experience to be in China during one of the most important festivals in the country.
The water tiger, the animal being ushered in with this Lunar New Year is less aggressive and more open-minded than the typical tiger, according to Chinese astrology.
Tiger years have the potential to be explosive, Lau said. But because 2022 is the Year of the Water Tiger, referring to the five elements (fire, earth, metal, water and wood) that rotate alongside the animal signs, it may be less aggressive. “The water tiger is a more open-minded tiger,” she said.
The Chinese New Year in China, you’ll hear it being called chunjie (春节), or the Spring Festival. It’s still very wintry, but the holiday marks the end of the coldest days. People welcome spring and what it brings along: planting and harvests, new beginnings and fresh starts.
You can also call it the Lunar New Year, because countries such as North and South Korea and Vietnam celebrate it as well. And also the Spring Festival goes according to the lunar calendar.
According to the lunar calendar, the Spring Festival is on January 1st and lasts until the 15th (the full moon). Unlike western holidays such as Thanksgiving or Christmas, when you try to calculate it with the solar (Gregorian) calendar, the date is all over the place.
Chinese New Year ranges from January 21 to February 20. In 2022, it occurs on February 1st.
The lunar calendar is still really important in China, even though it has officially moved to the Gregorian calendar like the rest of the world. All traditional holidays and days such as the Winter Solstice are celebrated. Some people still calculate their birthdays and ages according to the lunar calendar too!
The Spring Festival was originally a ceremonial day to pray to gods for a good planting and harvest season. As an agrarian society, the harvest was everything. People also prayed to their ancestors, as they were treated as gods.
But the myths are much more interesting. According to one legend, there was a monster named Nian (年). It would come about every New Year’s Eve. Most people would hide in their homes. But one boy was brave enough to fight him off using firecrackers. The next day, people celebrated their survival by setting off even more firecrackers. And that practice became a crucial part of the Spring Festival.
As in the myth about Nian, firecrackers are supposed to scare off monsters and bad luck. So people stay up on Chinese New Year’s Eve and set off firecrackers at midnight. In the morning, firecrackers are used again to welcome the New Year and good luck.
That same night, families also burn fake paper money and printed gold bars in honor of their deceased loved ones. Similar to the Korean Chuseok holiday or the Mexican Day of the Dead traditions, they believe the offerings will bring fortune and good luck to their ancestors in the afterlife.
Due to safety reasons and concerns for air pollution, many Chinese cities have banned fireworks. More than 500 cities have restrictions too.
But… many people don’t care and they do it anyway. Beijing had banned fireworks for 13 years. The ban was lifted in 2006 because of the angry public.
If you’re in China during this time, you’ll probably be able to hear and see the explosions for at least 3 nights and it can go on for weeks.
When I was studying there I would go to the marketand nuy my own firecrackers to join the Chinese as it was one that was very interesting as the sky turns red for hours.
The Spring Festival is technically 15 days. But celebrations start on New Year’s Eve (making it 16 days). You can also say that the holiday season starts in (lunar) December with the Laba Festival (腊八节 / là bā jié). That’s around 40 days of celebrations!
Traditionally, you have to spend time with your family and can only go out after the 5th day. It’s a national holiday. The large majority of stores are closed too.
So in the month before, people will buy nian huo (年货), or New Year’s products. The Chinese stock up on cooking supplies, snacks, gifts, new clothes and more.
The most important part of Chinese New Year is the family reunion. Everyone should come back home for the New Year’s Eve dinner.
But since in modern China, most elderly parents live in rural villages while their children work in the cities. The migration back home and to go on vacation is called chunyun (春运), or Spring Migration.
Plus, the earliest you can buy train tickets is 60 days before. It leads to a mad rush of literally fighting for tickets. In 2018, statistics showed that around 1,000 tickets were sold each second.
The Covid restricted movements in 2019 and 2020. But because of the containment of the virus and the upcoming Beijing Winter Olympics movements in December 2021 aand January 2022 again shoot up as trains, buses and aircrafts are all fully booked until end of February.
You know those nosy relatives during Thanksgiving? It’s even worse in China. Especially since having children and passing down the family name is one of the most important parts in Chinese culture.
Some desperate singles resort to hire a fake boyfriend or girlfriend to take home. Those who can’t or don’t want to go home can rent themselves out. For some of the other questions though, such as your salary, career or when you want to have kids, can’t be helped.
Showering isn’t allowed New Year’s Day. Sweeping and throwing out garbage isn’t allowed before the 5th. This is to make sure you don’t wash away the good luck!
On the other hand, there’s a day before the Spring Festival dedicated to cleaning. This day is to sweep the bad luck away and make room for the good.
What else is taboo during Chinese New Year? Hair cutting; before February 2; Using scissors, knives and other sharp things; Arguing, swearing; Saying unlucky words (such as “death” and “sickness”); Breaking things
In other cultures, children receive gifts for holidays. Gifts are also exchanged during the Spring Festival. But Chinese children receive something else too—red envelopes.
Also called red packets or Hong Bao, they include money. This money is supposed to help transfer fortune from the elders to the kids. They can also be given between bosses and employees, co-workers, and friends.
With the development of technology, digital red pockets are the trend now. People like to send one into group chats and watch the others fight for the money. This is called qiang hongbao (抢红包), or literally “snatching red pockets.”
Well, technically you’re supposed to. But not many people do that anymore because you can have too much of even the most delicious foods. Most people will eat dumplings during the New Year’s Eve dinner. Others will eat them for the first breakfast.
Contrary to popular belief though, dumplings aren’t popular everywhere in China. It’s more of a northern thing. In the South, people would rather eat spring rolls (egg rolls) and balls of glutinous rice in soup called tangyuan (汤圆).
Every family will deck their homes in the color red. Do you remember the story about Nian? Firecrackers aren’t the only thing that scared the monster away. Red is also an invaluable weapon, and used in nearly all Chinese New Year decorations.
The Chinese will hang up red lanterns and strings of (real or fake) chili peppers, paste red paper onto doors and windows, and more!
New clothes are also believed to bring good luck and start over fresh. People will add new red clothing to their Spring Festival wardrobe too.
Western horoscopes include 12 zodiacs, one for each month. There are 12 Chinese zodiacs as well, but the animal is for the entire year.
2022 is the Year of the Tiger. Some of the animals (such as Rat, Snake, Dog and Pig) aren’t normally well-liked in Chinese culture. But as a zodiac, their positive traits are bestowed on people born that year.
They play a much bigger role than in Western cultures. Your animal can decide your career, health and relationship success. Make sure you find out what zodiac animal you are!
In China, you have a “real” age (实岁 / shí suì) and a “fake” nominal age (虚岁 / xū suì). The real age is the one we all know about. You grow one year older on your birthday. The nominal age though, increases with the Spring Festival.
This was the age most people went with until recent times. But it’s still common nowadays, or used interchangeably. If you’re particular about it, make sure you ask!
“xin nian kuai le” literally means “Happy New Year.” But in Hong Kong and other Cantonese-speaking regions, it’s more common to say “gong hei fat choy.” In Mandarin Chinese, it’s “gong xi fa cai” (恭喜发财). It means “congratulations on the fortune.”
If you check out other greetings or blessings, you’ll see that most are about: Plentiful harvests: Wealth and fortune: Health and longevity: Having children and large families
Food, money and health are things that everyone wants. Passing down the family name is of utmost importance. That’s one of the reasons why China has such a large population.
The first full moon of the (lunar) year is the Yuanxiao Festival (元宵节 / yuán xiāo jié) or Lantern Festival (灯节 / dēng jié). Though family is still important, it’s still a night of partying and freedom.
In ancient times, girls weren’t allowed to venture outside by themselves. But on this night, they were able to walk around, moon-gaze and look at the beautiful lanterns. Because of this, it’s also known as Valentine’s Day in China.
One out of every five people in the world is Chinese. But that stat doesn’t include the millions of overseas Chinese and people of Chinese descent.
London, England; San Francisco, USA; Sydney, Australia; all claim to have the biggest Spring Festival celebrations outside of Asia. We’re can’t say if that’s true or not. But if you have a Chinatown nearby, you can definitely get a feel of what the celebrations are like.
Make sure you go check out the parades, lion dances, lantern statues, fireworks and amazing food!
I do wish the Chinese people in Sierra Leone a happy Lunar year and most especially the Chinese Ambassador and staff as they celebrate another Lunar year or Spring Festical on Tuesday 1st Febuary, 2022.
Xīn nián kuài lè!
