Críticas Magazine

Loida García-Febo

Happy Lunar New Year!
February 7, 2008

The Lunar New Year celebration is the biggest party in Chinatown. Today and tomorrow various countries in Asia celebrate the Lunar New Year:  Some of them are China, Korea (Seollal) and Vietnam (Têt). 

The Lunar New Year is the longest and most important holiday for many Asian cultures when people visit their families to share food, gifts and good times. For example, this year the Chinese Lunar New Year starts with the new moon on February 7 and ends in February 15. Everyone dress in red which symbolizes fire and drives away back luck. Families gather together to enjoy elaborated and colorful dinners and ‘lucky money’ is given to children in red envelopes. 

The Chinese lunisolar calendar is divided into 12 months of 29 or 30 days. The calendar is adjusted to the length of the solar year by the addition of extra months at regular intervals. The years are arranged in major cycles of 60 years. Each successive year is named after one of 12 animals: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, Boar. These 12-year cycles are continuously repeated. The Chinese New Year is celebrated at the second new moon after the winter solstice and falls between January 21 and February 19 on the Gregorian calendar. The year 2008 translates to the Chinese year 4705–4706. This is the year of the Rat.

Many library systems around the country are celebrating the Lunar New Year: Queens Library, Brooklyn Public Library, Fairfax County Public Library, Multnomah County Library and Seattle Public Library.  

It is beautiful when we celebrate USA residents’ cultures!

Posted by Loida García-Febo on February 7, 2008 | Comments (0)