China is a popular travel destination for many travelers and will be more so as the Olympics approach. The new year celebrations in China are top notch and here is some information on them.

An Overview of the Chinese New Year for Travelers

Most of the world celebrates its New Year on January 1st, which marks the beginning of the Gregorian calendar that most countries use. It's not the only New Year celebration, however. The Jewish New Year takes place on Rosh Hashanah, which coincides with a date on the Gregorian calendar that will always fall between September 6 and October 15. Another celebration of the year beginning comes in China – the background of Chinese New Year is very interesting and complex.

The Chinese New Year originally started with the Xin Dynasty, which is where “month one” of the Chinese year was said to start. Month twelve was said to be during the Shang Dynasty. These were not months in the sense of the Gregorian calendar, rather, just marking different periods of time. The first Emperor of China, Qin Shi Huang, changed the beginning of the Chinese New Year to be during the period marked month ten in 221 BC. The final change of when the Chinese New Year would be celebrated happened in 104 BC, when Emperor Wu decided on a first day of the year.

The customs that started with the Chinese New Year came from other sources. The first New Year celebrations were said to have been based on an old legend of a monster known as Nian. This monster could sneak into houses, and all of the Chinese people were afraid of him. Once the population learned that Nian was afraid of loud noises and the color red, people began to put on fireworks displays and decorate with the color red. This led to the term “Guo Nian” (Passover the Nian) which is also used as the term for New Year.

The period of the Chinese New Year celebrations lasts for fifteen days on the Gregorian calendar. The date on which the celebration starts is determined by the Chinese calendar, which is a lunisolar calendar, and always starts between the Gregorian dates of January 21 and February 20. The celebration starts with New Year's Eve. Before this date, Chinese families make sure to thoroughly clean their houses, because it is believed that this will sweep away bad luck. All brooms and cleaning items are put away on New Year's Eve so good luck can not be swept away, and a family dinner is held to celebrate.

The Chinese New Year ends with the Lantern Festival, one of the most recognizable parts of the holiday to Westerners. This period of celebration is not just held in China; Taiwan, Korea, Singapore and Vietnam, among others, also mark the time of the Chinese New Year.

Richard Monk
http://www.factsmonk.com/china