Lunar New Year 2022

The Lunar New Year is an international holiday celebrated in many Asian countries. People may know the holiday as Chinese New Year, Vietnam's Tết Nguyên Đán or South Korea's Seollal. Overall, over about 1.5 billion people across the world will take part in the festivities.

When does Lunar New Year start?

Unlike the Gregorian calendar – which has Jan. 1 as the beginning of the new year – Lunar New Year doesn't always start on the same day. The reason for that is the calendar is based on the moon's 12 phases. Each phase lasts around 29 days, the full calendar is around 354 days long.

This Lunar New Year will be on Feb. 1. The 2023 new year will start Jan. 22.

What does Lunar New Year signify?  

Just like how people celebrate Dec. 31 and Jan. 1 each year, Lunar New Year allows people to put the past behind and look forward to a fresh start.

How long is Lunar New Year?

Lunar New Year isn't just one night or day of celebrating, as it lasts for several days.

In China, the celebration lasts 15 days, with the Spring Lantern Festival on the final day. Tết Nguyên Đán is a week long, and Seollal in South Korea goes for three days.

What does the Year of the Tiger represent?

Each Lunar year is represented by a cycle of 12 zodiac animals. This year is the Year of the Tiger, the first since 2010.

"The tiger is commonly associated with something like bravery, courage and strength," Chen said.

Yang added the tiger can also be viewed as an uplifting animal that can give people hope, especially with COVID-19.

"This nicely coincided with hopeful recovery from the pandemic crisis," she said. "This actually is quite significant year in terms of the symbol."

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Source: USA Today