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A man lights candles during the midnight Lunar New Year celebrations at the Dharma Ramsi Temple in Bandung, Indonesia, on Saturday, January 25.
(Credit: Algi Febri Sugita / SOPA Images / LightRocket / Getty Images)
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People watch fireworks in front of the Imperial City of Hue to celebrate the Lunar New Year in Hue, Vietnam.
(Credit: Linh Pham / Getty Images)
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Two men take photos at the Seng Guan Temple on the eve of the Chinese New Year on Friday, January 24, in Manila, Philippines.
(Credit: Ezra Acayan / Getty Images)
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A man burns incense sticks during Lunar New Year's Eve celebrations at Fuk Ling Meow in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.
(Credit: Ulet Ifansasti / Getty Images)
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Chinese passengers, most wearing face masks, prepare to board trains in Beijing on Thursday, January 23, ahead of the Lunar New Year Spring Festival.
(Credit: Kevin Frayer / Getty Images)
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A woman takes a photo with her cell phone in front of a Lunar New Year decoration at a shopping mall in Hong Kong.
(Credit: Anthony Kwan / Getty Images)
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Barriers block access to the Hankou railway station in Wuhan, Hubei province, on Thursday, January 23.
The station was closed in an unprecedented effort to try to contain the coronavirus amid Lunar New Year trips.
(Credit: Chinatopix / AP)
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A worker lanterns the lanterns for the Lunar New Year at the Maitreya Temple in Medan, North Sumatra, Indonesia.
Chinese communities in the world's most populous Muslim country are preparing for the beginning of the Year of the Rat.
(Credit: Binsar Bakkara / AP)
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Crowds of commuters await their transportation at the Hongqiao high-speed train station in Shanghai on Wednesday, January 22.
(Credit: Qilai Shen / Bloomberg / Getty Images)
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Dumbo rats are on display ahead of the Lunar New Year celebrations at the Singapore Zoo's Rainforest KidzWorld on Tuesday, January 21.
2020 is the year of the rat (Credit: Roslan Rahman / AFP / Getty Images)
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A man prepares carp in clay pots for cooking in Ha Nam province on Tuesday, January 21.
Braised fish is a popular delicacy during the Lunar New Year, or Tet season, in northern Vietnam.
(Credit: Nhac Nguyen / AFP / Getty Images)
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Passengers sail into Beijing Daxing International Airport on Monday, January 20.
(Credit: Wang Zhao / AFP / Getty Images)
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Rat-themed décor items go on sale in Hanoi, Vietnam on Monday, January 20.
(Credit: Kham / Reuters)
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A colorful parade takes place during the Grebeg Sudiro festival on Sunday, January 19, in Solo, Central Java, Indonesia.
The event is celebrated as a prelude to the Chinese New Year.
(Credit: Ulet Ifansasti / Getty Images)
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Folk artists perform a dragon dance in Langzhong in China's Sichuan province on Saturday, January 18.
(Credit: Jiang Hongjing / Xinhua / ZUMA Wire)
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Children hold lanterns as they participate in a parade that kicks off the Chinese New Year celebrations in Lisbon, Portugal, on Saturday, January 18.
(Credit: Armando Franca / AP)
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An artist wearing a traditional Chinese costume attends the festivities in Belgrade, Serbia, on Saturday, January 18.
(Credit: Andrej Cukic / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock)
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This is what the lights of a show look like on Qingxiu Mountain in Nanning, south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, on Friday, January 17.
(Credit: Yu Xiangquan / Xinhua / Getty Images)
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Cub pandas play alongside Lunar New Year decorations at the Shenshuping Breeding Base of the Wolong National Nature Reserve in Wenchuan, Sichuan province, on Friday, January 17.
(Credit: STR / AFP / Getty Images)
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A worker decorates giant incense sticks at a factory in Kubang Semang, western Malaysia, on Friday, January 17.
(Credit: Mohd Rasfan / AFP / Getty Images)
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Chinese artists rehearse before a folk art performance at the El Gomhoria Theater in Cairo, Egypt, on Thursday, January 16.
(Credit: Amr Abdallah Dalsh / Reuters)
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A boy jumps to touch the lanterns hanging from a tree in Beijing on Thursday, January 16.
(Credit: Ng Han Guan / AP)
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Chinese passengers wait with their luggage before boarding the trains for the Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, at Beijing Station on Friday, January 10.
(Credit: Roman Pilipey / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock)
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Chinese passengers hold a banner next to their luggage in front of the Beijing train station on Friday, January 10.
(Credit: Roman Pilipey / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock)
(CNN Spanish) -
The Lunar New Year is here and the longest and most important celebration in the Chinese calendar officially begins.
It's 15 days of festivities, family reunions, gift giving, dragon dances and packages known as "hong bao" and a lot, a lot of red - the color of luck.
LOOK: PHOTOS |
This is how millions of people celebrate the Lunar New Year
So Happy Chinese New Year and welcome to the year of the rat!
Here we explain everything you need to know about this celebration that extends to many countries in Asia.
What is the Chinese New Year?
Actually, this is not its official name: in China, the festivities are known as the Spring Festival or Lunar New Year.
Precisely, they begin with the second moon after the winter solstice, a date that can go from the end of January to the middle of February in the Gregorian calendar.
In this 2020, it is Saturday, January 25, when the year 4717 begins, the year of the rat.
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Nor is a single day celebrated.
The Chinese New Year celebrations begin on the first day of the first lunar month in the Chinese calendar and extend for 15 days, when the full moon arrives.
It is a time when families come together and travel long distances to get home to see their loved ones.
For many, it is even their only chance of the year to go home and bring bags of goodies.
As it is celebrated?
Each of the 15 days that make up the celebration has its own traditions.
On New Year's Eve, for example, families gather for dinner together.
There is also the custom of staying home to receive good fortune or visit in-laws.
In addition, money is given in a red envelope, called "hong bao" to children and adults without a partner.
In recent years, the gift has migrated to digital.
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LOOK: PHOTOS |
Predictions for the Lunar New Year 2020
The tradition of launching fireworks comes from the custom of lighting bamboo stalks to ward off evil spirits, such as the half-dragon, half-lion monster "Nian", who according to legend comes out of hiding on the Lunar New Year to attack people. .
But his ears are his weakness, so in ancient times people set bamboo stalks on fire to scare him.
Over time this led to fireworks.
And the Lunar New Year ends with the Lantern Festival, celebrated at night with parades and displays of decorated lanterns.
The main event of this day is the Dragon Dance: beautiful dragons made of paper, silk and bamboo are held on the heads and it seems that they dance during the parade.
What superstitions characterize the Lunar New Year?
The first thing is not to take out the garbage.
The reason?
It is said that thus you erase luck and prosperity.
You also enjoy time with your family, especially your in-laws and your partner's relatives, on the second day, which is considered the beginning of the year.
On the third day, on the contrary, it is better not to visit anyone.
It is a day prone to arguments, according to tradition.
By the seventh you can celebrate.
And red is the color that can never be missing: it is associated with luck and prosperity, but it is mainly used for protection purposes.
(The monster "Nian" is also frightened by the color red).
Does the world's largest migration take place on Chinese New Year?
This year, 3 billion trips are expected to be made during "chunyun," China's busy 40-day season - which runs from January 9 to February 18 - when people move to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
And yes, it is considered the largest human migration on the planet.
Of these total trips, 440 million will be made by rail.
Some 79 million will be by plane, but most will make their journey by car and motorcycle.
The Chinese do whatever it takes to see their loved ones.
LEE:
Under the shadow of the coronavirus comes the Lunar New Year: there are 30 million people with restrictions
That is why this year, in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak that affects the country, the celebration has aroused so much concern among the authorities due to the high possibility of contagion.
Wuhan, where the outbreak began, is under effective closure, with all public transportation in and out of the city suspended, and more than 30 million people affected by the restrictions in 11 cities in China.
In addition, in Beijing all celebrations were canceled.
Why are the Chinese years identified with animals?
Chinese legend has it that Buddha summoned all the animals to meet him on New Year's Day and named the years with the 12 animals that came.
So the animals in the Chinese calendar are the dog, the pig, the rat, the ox, the tiger, the rabbit, the dragon, the snake, the horse, the sheep, the monkey and the rooster.
Tradition also says that people born in each animal year have some trait of the personality of that animal.
Lunar New Year Celebrations New Years Traditions Travel