Chinese new year 2021

Chinese new year celebration

Chinese new year holidays

        Chinese new year kids

You are in the place of learning Chinese New Year facts for kids it's also known as the Lunar New Year. The Chinese New Year Lunar New Year talking about the same thing two ways of saying it. 

We're gonna share facts about this holiday. You might say I don't understand holiday , I don't understand the difference between the Chinese New Year and maybe a new year that you're more accustomed celebrating well you're in the right place buckle in cuz. This is gonna be awesome it's interesting different cultures have used different calendars through the years.

Now the most common calendar to use in the world is the Gregorian calendar. This is what the Gregorian calendar looks like it's probably very familiar to you.

There are always twelve months in a year and New Year's is always on January 1st.

Chinese new year 2021 calendar

No here is the Chinese calendar the Chinese calendar is very different than the Gregorian calendar this is interesting sometimes the number of  months in a year can change some years have 12 months in some years have 13 months. We're going to explain why in just a moment and New Year's is always in January or February but truth be told it changes from year to year and that New Year's is the Chinese New Year or the Lunar New Year .

Okay so why are the calendars different well the Gregorian calendar is solar meaning it's based on the Sun that is why the Gregorian calendar is so similar year by year and why the year always has 12 months with the Gregorian calendar and why New Year's is always on that same day on January 1st because it's based on the Sun so there are less changes in fluctuations from year to year . 

The Chinese calendar is lunisolar , meaning it's based on the Sun and the moon which is why it can change a good bit from year to year because it's not just based on the Sun. It's based on the moon as well now this is interesting in the Chinese calendar every year is given a name instead of a number there are 12 animal names that rotate from year to year and you can see in this wheel the rotation of animal names. The new year is going to be the year of the dog then the following year is going to be the year of the pig and then the year after that will be the year of the rat and it keeps going year by year along the wheel.

Chinese new year animals

Through the animal names all right so who uses the Chinese calendar today in today's world China and many other Asian countries use the Chinese calendar for ceremonial reasons or for planning special events and it's not in just those areas across the world.

Chinese new year celebration

There are people that still respect and honor and use the Chinese calendar and there are a lot of people that enjoy celebrating Chinese New Year the Lunar New Year.

In fact over 1.5 billion people celebrate Chinese New Year each year or we're gonna move over 1.5 billion people now some facts about the holiday itself the full celebration lasts 15 days. 

15 days it's not just a one day deal here Chinese New Year is a huge event a celebration that lasts 15 days it begins with the reunion dinner on New Year's Eve with the whole family and ends with the Lantern Festival on the 15th day.

Which the lantern festival oh my god is so beautiful so awesome we're gonna share more about that in just a little bit those 15 days are so important because it's not just the celebration of the new year but of a new season that's why it's also called Spring Festival in China. This time of year is the beginning of spring so this holiday really has three names Chinese New Year Lunar New Year and Spring Festival.

 The beginning of a brand new season the season of spring now if there is one word that marked this holiday it would be the word luck almost every tradition in the Chinese New Year celebration goes back to luck and getting good luck in the new year.

 For example the dragon dances are thought to bring lots of good luck to the community it is thought that the longer the dragon dance the more luck that will come to the people participating and to the community where the dragon dance is happening because dragons are thought to bring good luck.

Other traditions that are thought to bring good luck in the new year are lucky money envelopes which are always luck in the new year it all ends with the Lantern Festival .The lanterns are of course always red and there are hung up symbolizing people letting go of their past and often times people will buy a new Lantern.

That they will hang up in the next year as a symbol of the hope of the upcoming year that they will have good fortune and that it will be a wonderful year for them .The Lunar New Year the spring festival .

We hope it was informative and that you enjoyed learning more about this fascinating holiday.

What was your favorite fact let us know in the comments section below.

Chinese new year 2021