I would like to wish a happy, healthy and prosperous new year to all my Chinese friends, colleague and students. And thank you for your contribution for making our world more fun and happy!
Yesterday, Monday, February 1st, marked the first day of the Chinese Lunar New Year, China’s biggest and most ceremonious holiday. Though China officially operates on the international Gregorian calendar, the traditional lunisolar calendar maintains ceremonial significance, and so every year, around the new moon closest to the beginning of spring, Chinese people ring in the beginning of a new annual cycle — a chance to honor one’s ancestors and prepare for the good fortune to come.
Here’s what you ought to know about the holiday:
All photos; courtesy of Google Images.
1. It’s about family. Unlike the New Year celebration per the Gregorian calendar, Chinese New Year is not a time for drunken revelry and sequined hats. On Sunday night — Chinese New Year’s Eve — the streets of Hong Kong were quiet as locals gathered in their houses for “reunion dinners” with family members who’ve returned home.
2. The world’s greatest annual migration of people. Fortune recently called it “the greatest travel nightmare of 2016.” In China, Hong Kong and other countries with a significant Chinese population, the New Year is celebrated as a public holiday — schools and offices close during this time — and so a massive number of people take advantage of the opportunity to travel — either heading home to be with loved ones or going on holiday. Though workers in mainland China are given seven consecutive days off, the holiday period extends through early March, during which officials expect 2.91 billion trips to be taken.
(Source for this article is: http://time.com/4211680/chinese-new-year-lunar-monkey/)
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