When is the Chinese Lunar New Year celebrated?
Chang: The celebrations have been occurring for thousands of years, and mark the beginning of spring. In fact, the way to say “new year” in Chinese is “chun jie,” which translates to “spring festival.” In previous years, China used both solar and lunar calendars, because both were important to daily life. As an agricultural society, farmers used the calendars to determine when to plant crops. The lunar calendar is still used today, which is why the date of the Chinese New Year changes each year, from late January through mid February on the Gregorian calendar, the one used in the United States. The new year is China’s most important holiday. Approximately one third of China’s 1.3 billion people travel home to celebrate, overburdening the railway system. But on New Year’s Day, the trains are empty. It’s similar to Thanksgiving in the United States. Why is it celebrated? Chinese New Year celebrations are performed to get rid of all the bad luck and ill fortunes from the previous year. It
