How to Wish Someone a Happy Lunar New Year in Chinese
Tuesday marks the start of the Lunar New Year, also known as Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, China's biggest holiday. During this time, the world's largest human migration will take place as hundreds of millions of people make their way to celebrate with family in China. The holiday is also celebrated by millions of people of Chinese decent all over the world, including in the U.S. Here's what you need to know about the Chinese New Year. This year, Chinese New Year begins on Tuesday, Feb. 5 and lasts until Thursday, Feb. 7. Officially, the holiday runs for three days, but unofficially it is celebrated over the course of two weeks. Chinese New Year follows the lunar calendar, so the exact dates change every year, but it usually occurs in late January or February, around the new moon closest to the beginning of spring. Chinese New Year is a centuries-old festival that celebrates the new year according to the Chinese calendar. The holiday was born out the myth of Nian also the Chinese word for "year", a beast that would appear every New Year's Eve and attack villagers. Legend has it that to scare away the beast, the villagers would put up red banners and explode firecrackers and bang drums. Chinese New Year traditions vary across Chinese communities, but most celebrations involve fireworks, family reunions and feasts, and paying respects to one's ancestors. The New Year is also a chance to prepare for good fortune and luck in the coming year. Each year on the Chinese calendar is assigned an animal of the zodiac, which is repeated every 12 years. Last year was the Year of the Dog and 2019 is the Year of the Pig. The years 1935, 1947, 1959, 1971, 1983, 1995, and 2007 were also assigned Year of the Pig. Those born in these years are said to be realistic, a bit materialistic, hard-working and let themselves enjoy life. The numbers 2, 5, and 8 are considered lucky, as well as the colors yellow, gray and brown. Some famous pigs include Alfred Hitchcock, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hillary Clinton, Tupac Shakur, Amy Winehouse, Mila Kunis and Donald Glover. Chinese New Year celebrations are not limited to China. The Lunar New Year is celebrated all over the world. In East and Southeast Asia, Brunei, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, North Korea, Singapore, South Korea and Vietnam put on festivities. During South Korea's Lunar New Year, which is called "Seollal," Koreans will don traditional garb call Hanbok and play a traditional board game called Yunnori. During Vietnam's "Tet Nguyen Dan," Vietnamese clean their homes to get rid of bad luck and eat banh chung, a sweet sticky rice. Traditions and customs vary by country, but across the board the holiday centers on reuniting with family and honoring ancestors. "Gong hei fat choy" is the most common Chinese New Year greeting in Cantonese, which is spoken in parts of southern China and Hong Kong. It directly translates to "wishing you great happiness and prosperity." In Mandarin, the same greeting is "gong xi fa cai" pronounced gong she fa tsai. There are a few other ways to wish someone a Happy Chinese New Year. In Mandarin, "Happy Chinese New Year" is "xin nian kuai le" pronounced shin nee-an kwai le, which is a formal greeting typically used for strangers and means "New Year happiness." A shortened version is "xin nian hao" pronounced shin nee-an how is more often used for friends and family. "Guo nian hao" pronounced gor nee-an how is also used as a New Year greeting and means "pass the New Year well."