What is the Chinese Lunar New Year? Everything to know about the Year of the Snake
Times Square ball drops and midnight kisses reliably usher in the New Year on the same date every year. But for billions of people around the world who celebrate the Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, festivities are about to begin.
The international holiday observed throughout many Asian countries – and celebrated across the U.S. – not only falls on different dates every year, but lasts well beyond one night. This year, the 15-day festival begins Friday and will be a time for adherents to usher in a new year with a variety of cultural traditions.
Here's everything to know about the 2025 Lunar New Year, the Year of the Snake.
The Year of the Snake. Here's your guide to the Lunar New Year
When does Chinese New Year start and end?
Chinese New Year in 2025 starts on Wednesday, Jan. 29, and lasts until the Lantern Festival on Feb. 12.
Why does Chinese New Year fall on different dates?
Rather than following the western Gregorian Calendar with 365-day years, the Chinese New Year follows a lunar calendar based the moon's 12 phases. Each phase cycle spans approximately 29 days with the full calendar being about 354 days long.
On the Gregorian calendar, Lunar New Year – which lasts from the first new moon to the next full moon – generally falls in late January or early February.
Is Chinese New Year the same as Lunar New Year?
Chinese New Year, alternatively referred to as the Spring Festival, is also commonly called the Lunar New Year – an inclusive name reflecting that many countries, not just China, recognize the holiday.
What is Lunar New Year?
Similar to the Western New Year, Lunar New Year is a time for celebrants to let go of the past and ring in the future.
The Lunar New Year also is an important occasion for spending time with family and to pay respects to ancestors and older family members. Families will come together to practice cultural customs and eat feasts.
Many people will also clean their homes before festivities begin and will often put up red decorations – a color signifying good fortune in Chinese culture.
What is 'the Year of the Snake?'
Every year, the Lunar New Year marks the transition from one animal to another. The Year of the Dragon, which began on Feb. 10, 2024, ended Tuesday to begin the Year of the Snake.
Snakes in Chinese mythology aren't manifestations of wickedness or evil as in Western cultures.
But while people born in the year of the snake are seen as charismatic, intelligent and artistic, they are also often considered cunning and mysterious.
Who celebrates Lunar New Year?
Lune New Year is primarily celebrated in many Asian cultures, including by Chinese, South Korean, Vietnamese, Singaporean, Malaysian, Filipino and Indonesian.
Each culture has its own name for the New Year. For instance, Lunar New Year in China is called the Spring Festival, or chūnjié. South Korea refers to the Lunar New Year as Seollal. In Vietnam, Lunar New Year is called Tết, which is short for Tết Nguyên Đán.
How to celebrate Lunar New Year
Celebrations vary from culture to culture, but typically on the first day of Lunar New Year people visit the senior members of their extended family.
One of the most recognizable celebrations is lion dance troupes, a dramatic tradition meant to usher in the New Year and expel evil spirits.
Fireworks and firecrackers are also very popular, as is gift giving. In Hong Kong for example, married family members give red packets containing cash to children and teenagers, according to the Royal Museums Greenwich in London.
What is the Lantern Festival?
The fifteenth and final day of the holiday is the Lantern Festival, during which people have tangyuan, or sweet glutinous rice balls, and children carry lanterns around the neighborhood at night to mark the end of the celebration, according to the National Museum of Asian Art.
Order of the Chinese Zodiac
The Chinese Zodiac is represented by a repeating 12-year cycle of animal signs and their attributes, based on the lunar calendar.
Last year was represented by the dragon, which throughout Chinese history has represented good luck, justice, prosperity and strength. Those born under the Zodiac are often seen as charismatic, intelligent, confident, powerful, naturally lucky and gifted.
Here's the order of the Chinese Zodiac:
Rat
Ox
Tiger
Rabbit (in Vietnam, the rabbit is replaced by the cat)
Dragon
Snake
Horse
Goat
Monkey
Rooster
Dog
Boar/Pig
Contributing: Olivia Munson, USA TODAY; Dina Kaur, Arizona Republic
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: What is Lunar New Year? Everything to know about Year of the Snake
