Chinese New Year begins on Thursday, February 7th, 2008.
This holiday is also called lunar new year ("lunar" means based on the moon). It is celebrated, not only in China, but in other East Asian countries like Korea and Vietnam, and in countries where Chinese people have settled. |
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This is the Year of the Rat. (There is a 12-year cycle of years named after animals.) Children born this year are supposed to be like rats: smart, hardworking, neat -- but stubborn.
Chinese New Year is a time for visiting family and eating special foods. The foods symbolize people's hopes for the next year. For example, they eat fish because the word for "fish" sounds like the word for "more than enough". Married people give red envelopes of money to children and single people. (Red is a lucky color.) |
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