On Saturday, people all across China will bring in the new year. The Chinese New Year, aka the Spring Festival, is one of the most important social holidays in China. In 1912, Chinese joined the western calendar. The western calendar acknowledged the January 1 is the start New Year. However, they still celebrate their traditional Chinese New Year.

 The Chinese New Year is based off of the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. The lunisolar calendar indicates the moonphase and the time of the solar year; this causes the Chinese New Year to be on a different day each year. Friday will be the .Chinese New Year’s Eve It is the start the 15 day celebration filled with plenty of festive events.

 In the Chinese culture, people would usually completely clean the house and set up their decorations for display. Many go and visit family and friends and more than likely host a dinner. As for the outside events, people launch fireworks. This usually happens in rural areas and small towns. In many areas, people dress up in traditional attire, participate in ancestor worship, and have dragon dances. In addition to the ancestor worship, the celebration sometimes holds religious ceremonies in honor of their heaven, the earth, the ancestors and other gods.

 This holiday is celebrated in many places. Of course, it is celebrated in the mainland China, but it is also celebrated in the areas that are heavily populated with Chinese people. These places include Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Mauritius, and the Philippines. These places tend to also hold their own festivals featuring dragons and lion dances also with performances at temples. “I remember seeing tons of pictures with people in dragon costumes. It was nice seeing the way other people in other cultures having their way of celebrating the New Year,” said junior Emily Rund. There are several different aspects to bringing in the New Year for the Chinese people, and many of them are in honor of the ancestral beginnings.

  Many people celebrate the Chinese New Year; some even right here in Raleigh. The Triangle Area Chinese American Society is hosting their own festival in celebration of the Chinese New Year at the Dorton Arena from 10am to 5pm on January 28th. The celebration will be filled with showcases displaying Chinese cultural talents, activities for kids, performance and more. For more information, such as ticket prices, go to http://www.nctacas.org/ .

Have fun bringing in the Year of the Rooster!