What is Lunar New Year?
Also known as Chinese New Year and the Spring Festival, Lunar New Year is a two week celebration that begins on the first day of the first month of the lunar calendar. In 2008 it will fall on Thursday, February 7th and end on the full moon 15 days later. It celebrates family, the earth coming back to life and the start of a new beginning and possibilities. Regarded as a major holiday in Asia, Lunar New Year is celebrated internationally in China, Japan, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Singapore and other Asian communities all around the world. Preparations for Lunar New Year start during the last few days of the last moon. Houses are thoroughly cleaned, debts repaid, hair cut and new clothes bought. Doors are decorated with vertical scrolls of characters on red paper whose texts seek good luck and praise nature. During the two-week Lunar New Year period, numerous ancient traditions are observed, ranging from flower giving to the preparation of special foods. Perhaps the most popular Luna
