Lunar New Year is one of the most important celebrations of the year among East and Southeast Asian cultures, including Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean communities, among others. The New Year celebration is usually celebrated for multiple days—not just one day as in the Gregorian calendar’s New Year. In 2022, Lunar New Year began on February 1.
Each year in the Lunar calendar is represented by one of 12 zodiac animals included in the cycle of 12 stations or “signs” along the apparent path of the sun through the cosmos.
The 12 zodiac animals are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. In addition to the animals, five elements of earth, water, fire, wood and metal are also mapped onto the traditional lunar calendar. Each year is associated with an animal that corresponds to an element.
The year 2022 is slated to be the year of the water tiger. The water tiger comes up every 60 years. The water tiger is action-oriented and represents strength, bravery and clearing away evil.
San Francisco, California, claims to have the largest Lunar New Year’s celebration outside of Asia. The city has hosted a Chinese New Year celebration since the Gold Rush era of the 1860s, a period of large-scale Chinese immigration to the region. Los Angeles County is the second-largest contingent of people of Chinese descent living in the U.S., trailing only New York and just ahead of the San Francisco and the Oakland area.
Sources: History.com and Los Angeles Daily News. Visit History.com to learn how the Lunar New Year is celebrated in places like: China, Vietnam, and the Koreas!