Chinese New Year
Chinese Calendar
January 29, 2006 is Chinese Lunar New Year's Day.
2007 is the Year of the Pig.
2006 is the Year of the Dog.
Chinese calendar has been in continuous use for centuries, which predates the International Calendar (based on the Gregorian Calendar) we use at the present day which goes back only some 425 years. The calendar measures time, from short durations of minutes and hours, to intervals of time measured in months, years and centuries, entirely based on the astronomical observations of the movement of the Sun, Moon and stars. Read more about it.
When is the Chinese New Year's Day in Year 2005?
When is the Chinese New Year's Day in Year 2004?
January 22,2004. This is the first day in the Year of the Monkey.
It is Year 4701 by Chinese calendar.
What's special about the Chinese New Year in 2004?
It was a Leap Year! Unlike the western calendar, where one extra day is added in February, one whole leap month is added in a Chinese Leap Year.
Just think. If you get paid by the month, instead of working an extra day for nothing, you would get an extra month's pay !!!
This time around, the Leap Month comes after the regular 2-nd Month. The "Leap Second Month" begins on March 21, 2004. Read more about this here And here.
When was the Chinese New Year's Day in Year 2003?
February 1, 2003. It was the first day in the Year of the Ram (sheep, goat).
This is Year 4700 by Chinese calendar.
When was the Chinese New Year's Day in Year 2002?
February 12, 2002. It was the first day in the Year of the Horse.
It is Year 4699 by Chinese calendar.
For those interested in astrology, it is the year of the Black Horse.
When was the Chinese New Year's Day in Year 2001?
January 24, 2001. This was the first day in the Year of the Snake.
This is Year 4698.
[Some says this is Year 4638, which is also plausible.
Others claim this year to be either 4699 or 4399, which are almost certainly wrong.]
What's special about the Chinese New Year in 2001?
It was a Leap Year! Unlike the western calendar, where one extra day is added in February, one whole leap month is added in a Chinese Leap Year.
Just think. If you get paid by the month, instead of working an extra day for nothing, you would get an extra month's pay !!!
This time around, the Leap Month comes after the regular 4-th Month. The "Leap 4-th Month" begins on May 23, 2001. More about this...
When was the Chinese New Year's Day in Year 2000?
February 5, 2000. It was the first day in the Year of the Dragon.
That year ended on January 23,2001.
When is the Chinese New Year's Day in some other year?
There is a 160-year calendar which gives all the dates from 1900-2060 written by H. Liang. You can download it free from http://lunarcal.tripod.com/Download.html
12 Animals
Each year is also designated by one of the 12 Animals For instance, 2003 is the Year of the Ram and 2004 is the Year of the Monkey. 2005 is the Year of the Rooster.
This system is extremely practical. A child does not have to learn a new answer to the question, "How old are you?". Old people often lose track of their age, because they are rarely asked about their current age. Every one just have to remember that he or she was born in the "Year of the Monkey" or whatever. More about this.
New Year's decoration at the front of the house
What's this logo at top right corner of this web page?
The Chinese word for "Spring." The Chinese calls the New Year's Celebration the "Spring Festival." This particular calligraphy is a reproduction of the work by one of master calligrapher Zhao Mengfu  (1254-1322) who wrote it more than 600 years ago.
More on calligraphy
Are there Chinese Graphics analogous to Christmas cards?
What is the Chinese word for 'luck'?
Solar/Lunar calendar
For monthly calendar of 2006 (designed by Mr. Meng Zhuo of CWR Univ.)
2006 Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec
For monthly calendar (design by Professor Dawei Dong)
With a printer, you can print these out and make a 12-page desk calendar.
(Be sure to set page orientation to 'landscape' on you printer for best result.)
What is the story about the animal of the year?
In Chinese calendar, one of the scheme for counting years is a 12-year cycle. One counts from Year 1,2,3,... up to 12. Then starts over from Year 1. (In modern mathematics, this is modulo 12.) Instead of inventing 12 special symbols for this purpose, 12 animals are used to represent these 12 years. Rabbit (hare), for example, is the 4-th year of the cycle.
See more about this.
Chinese dragons
Fireworks & skywriting
How is Chinese New Year's Day determined?
- In one sentence, the Chinese New Year is the second New Moon after the winter solstice.
It is based strictly on astronomical observations, and has nothing to do with the Pope, emperors, animals or myths. Due to its scientific and mathematical nature, we can easily and precisely calculate backward or forward for thousands of years.
- One explanation by Rudy Chiang
- Allen Tsai's site has more details: about Year 2004 and here.
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Bilateral Visits
