I have had many emails asking me why China celebrates a different New Year than the rest of the western world. I would love to explain this a little. China did celebrate Jan 1, 2010 with the rest of the world but ancient China used a lunisolar calendar. This means that the common calendar that you and I use is used today in China for day to day activities and scheduling but the traditional lunisolar calendar is used for traditional holidays and in astrology.
The lunisolar calender is when elements of the lunar calender is used with elements of the solar calender. So a lunar calender is based on the phases of the moon and usually doesn't follow any particular season. A solar calender is based on the position of the earth as it rotates around the sun, therefore usually indicating the seasons.
Therefore, in the solar calender Chinese New Year does not happen on the same day every year. But in the lunar calender it occurs on the 11th month (second new moon after the winter solstice.
The interesting thing is that when you go to a Chinese restaurant and they have the place mat with the Chinese animal year listed on it and for all these years you thought you were the year of the Monkey-you could be mistaken, because the year of the monkey started Feb 1980 to Jan of 1981. So if you were born in Jan of 1980 you are really the year of the Sheep. This year (Feb 14, 2010-Feb 3,2011) is the year of the Tiger. Last year (Jan 26, 2009-Feb 13, 2010)was the year of the Bull.
Mythology:
Legend is that a fearful beast Nien would visit the villages on the first day of the year and devour livestock and children. The villagers began putting out food and treats for the beast in the hope that it would leave their children and livestock alone after eating the prepared food. One day the beast was frightened away from a village by a small child wearing red. It was assumed that Nien was afraid of the color red. So, the people began to hang red lanterns and red decorations all around the village at this time of year. The people, strengthened by the red decorations, also began to use fireworks to scare the Nien away (perhaps representing gunfire).
Therefore, this holiday is sometimes called Lantern Festival or Spring Festival (Chun Jie) as well as The New Year.
Here in Kunming there are already fireworks on a nightly basis. School has been out since the end of Jan for the kids and the traffic is terrible due to the numbers of people coming to the city. The huge celebration really starts on the 13th of Feb this year and I was told not to go to any of the parks that night unless I want to have burned hair and clothes-due to the high numbers of fireworks that will be happening. (this really does make me want to go though-but we will see)
Starting on the 14th and for at least one week the city shuts down. No businesses will be open except the large dept stores. I was told to make sure to buy enough water and food prior to the 14th to last me a while. I am just glad to be on break from school myself and have plans to watch the fireworks in some way on the 13th and then my classmates and I will gather on the 14th for a good old Lord of the Rings Marathon.
