The Chinese New Year (春节 – Chunjie) will soon be upon us. January 26 will see the start of the Chinese Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival as it is called in China. 2009 will be the Year of the Ox. The Year of the Rat will end, and not appear again until 2020..
Imagine every western holiday rolled into a week-long semi-hedonistic party. That’s Chinese New Year. Unlike the one day December 31st – January 1st western celebration, the Chinese New Year is traditionally a 14 day celebration. Mainland China has a “Golden Week” holiday, most of the country will be off work for the first week of the festival.
Most of the population of China will travel back to their hometowns and villages to celebrate the holiday. Chunyun (春運 or 春运 or the Spring Festival Travel period), features the world’s largest human migration. Over 2 billion people, Chinese and overseas Chinese, will travel during the forty day period surrounding Chinese New Year. Train, bus, and planes tickets are hard to come by. Standing room seats are sold on trains. My first Spring Festival in China saw me sitting on the floor of a train carriage for six hours until a seat opened up. Yes, uncomfortable, but strangely fun.
It’s not a simple holiday (nothing in China is simple). The preparations are intense, and each day of the festival different tasks must be undertaken. Fireworks, intense cleaning, new clothes, red greetings, lucky money, and special foods all make for extreme prep work
It’s the holiday of holidays. As western children dream of Santa and Christmas, Chinese kids dream of Spring Festival. It’s a staple of conversation for weeks before the event.
Over the coming weeks Asian Ramblings will bring you a blow-by-blow explanation of the holiday: The genesis, the customs, and the culinary delights. Stay tuned. Learn all you need to know about Chinese New Year. Amaze your friends with your profound cultural knowledge.
Xin Nian Kuia Le, or Happy New Year, as they say.
s
<
p style=”border: medium dotted; padding: 3mm; text-align: center;”>Like this article? Don’t miss a thing: Subscribe by RSS feed, or Subscribe by Email.
I think that’s so very cool, to have you on my list and get to hear about the Chinese New Year first hand. I look forward to that. You stood for six hours! Golden Week sounds like an intense experience.
Are particular years in the Chinese Zodiac supposed to have particular characteristics in correlation to the animal, or does that just apply to people and what year they are born?
amuirin´s last blog post..The Golden Circle
amuirin: You’ve anticipated my posts. Stay tuned for info on the animals, etc. The 6 hours was actually sitting on the floor, with hundreds of people pushing by. You would nod off only to be pushed aside by someone on their way to the WC. Ai Ya!
Very cool! I’m looking forward to it.
Shawn W´s last blog post..God’s Will vs Free Will
Me too. Looking forward to it.
Any luck on the passport front?
Corina´s last blog post..Just Too Old For This
Shawn: I’ll do my best.
Corina: Yes, I have the passport in my hot little hands. Good thing, I leave tomorrow.
Stevo | China Travel´s last blog post..The Ox Approaches: Chinese New Year starts January 26
We once were to San Francisco in time to go to New Year — we had just the one day there and wanted to spend the whole day celebrating? Turned out nothing started till after we left… ack! I’m looking forward to the year of the ox, my younger boy is Year of the Ox.
Can’t wait for the posts — enjoy London!
thelittlefluffycat´s last blog post..I Have Found The Baron A New Cat
Gong xi fa cai Stevo. Hope 2009 is good for you.
cfimages´s last blog post..Shooting Pandas
LFC: You really missed out. I’m sure the SF Chinese New Year party is massive. Xin Nian Kuai Le to you, LFC.
Craig: Thanks! You too.
Xin Nian Kuai Le to you, Stevo! 🙂 Yeah, when Pan sets up her B&B in SF someday, I’m so gonna book for Lunar New Year . . .
thelittlefluffycat´s last blog post..I Have Found The Baron A New Cat
Looking forward to learning and hearing more about it. You’re such a wonderful guide, Stevo. 🙂
Robin´s last blog post..Golden Gate Bridge