When most Americans hear the phrase “the New Year” their mind often goes to the last day in December, just a week after Christmas, when the ball drops on New Year’s Eve to celebrate another year and the start of January. They might think about resolutions or goals that they have for themselves, they might celebrate with family, or they might party the night away with friends, music, and loads of alcohol. However, this is not New Years for everyone around the world. In fact, some places don’t follow the same calendar, so New Years isn’t even the first day of January. So while Americans are partying for the night, there are parts of the world that January 1st is simply just another day.
One place in the world where New Years is not celebrated at the same time that the United States celebrates, is China. China follows a completely different calendar than the USA and other parts of the world and that is because they follow the traditional lunar calendar. Since they follow the lunar calendar, they celebrate the Lunar New Year. The Lunar New Year doesn’t fall on the same day every single year, but it does typically fall sometime in January or February. For example in 2022 the New Year was February 1st. In 2023, the New Year will be celebrated January 22nd. China also calls this celebration 春节 ( chun jie) which means spring festival.
A big difference in 春节 and the USA’s New Years is how they are celebrated and for how long. The USA typically emphasizes the holiday on December 31st, which is also known as New Years Eve, and the following day January 1st, which is also known as New Years day. This is an extreme difference in comparison to China’s holiday which is typically celebrated for about two weeks. This might be because in the USA New Years is overshadowed by Christmas and since they don’t celebrate in China, and because it is at a different time anyways, 春节 ends up being one of the most important holidays in China.
The way that 春节 is celebrated has a lot of traditions and meaning behind it. First of all, this is a family holiday and it is expected that no matter where you are, you make it home to celebrate with loved ones. It is also common for all the adults to give red envelopes （红包包）filled with cash to the younger family members as a gift. This is a big difference in comparison to New Years in the USA because there is typically no gift giving. In China they also make specific dishes for this occasion and one of them is 年糕 or year cake, to celebrate the start of a new year.
Something that is also important during 春节 is their zodiac. The Chinese zodiac is very different from the astrological zodiac. China focuses on years and each year is represented by a different animal. There are twelve different animals total which are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, ram, monkey, roster, dog, and the pig. It is currently year of the tiger and in 2023 it will be year of the rabbit.
Although there are quite a few differences between the USA New Year and 春节， there are a few similarities. For example both the USA and China celebrate with fireworks and brightly colored decorations. They also both typically have events/parties that go late into the night to celebrate. Both of course celebrate the start of new beginnings, and of course the New Year.
It is fascinating how two sides of the world celebrate the New Year so differently. I felt that this topic fell into the category of the doubles and doppelgängers because of the way that one thing can be celebrated and seen from a multiple ways even though the base of celebrating the New Year remains the same.
