Chinese New Year (China and Global Chinese Communities) Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, is the most important holiday in Chinese culture, marking the lunar new year with family reunions, ancestral rites, and symbolic rituals for luck and prosperity. Celebrations last 15 days, culminating in the Lantern Festival. Homes are adorned with red lanterns and couplets; firecrackers scare away the mythical beast Nian. Key customs include giving red envelopes (hongbao) with money, eating dumplings or fish for abundance, and watching lion and dragon dances. The zodiac animal of the year (e.g., Dragon, Rabbit) influences decorations and fortunes. In China, it triggers the world’s largest annual human migration as workers return home. Overseas, cities like San Francisco, Singapore, and Sydney host grand parades. While deeply rooted in Confucian values of filial piety and harmony, the festival adapts—digital hongbao via apps now complement tradition. More than festivity, it’s a cultural reset: cleaning homes signifies sweeping away misfortune, while feasts reaffirm kinship. Chinese New Year endures as a bridge between past and present, local and global, embodying resilience, hope, and the timeless pull of home.
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