Lunar New Year

Lunar New Year is the beginning of a calendar year whose months are moon cycles, based on the lunar calendar or lunisolar calendar. Lunar New Year is particularly celebrated in East Asia, influenced by the Chinese New Year and the Chinese Calendar.

Lunar New Year, also called Spring Festival, is the most important holiday in China. The festival is also celebrated in Vietnam (where it’s known as Tet), North and South Korea (where it’s known as Solnal) and Tibet (where it is called Losar). In 2022, Lunar New Year will begin on February 1. Tied to the Chinese lunar calendar, the holiday began as a time for feasting and to honor household and heavenly deities, as well as ancestors. With the popular adoption of the Western calendar in 1912, the Chinese joined in celebrating January 1 as New Year’s Day. China, however, continues to celebrate Lunar New Year with the traditional greeting, “Kung hei fat choi.”