Lunar New Year is celebrated in many Asian countries (in Vietnam, it’s Têt, and Losar in Tibet). The festivities begin with the new moon, which this year fell on Feb. 1, and culminates with the full moon on Feb. 15. Each Lunar New Year is matched with one of the 12 zodiac animals. This is the Year of the Tiger — the tiger being a symbol of power, independence, and creativity.
If you're wishing someone a happy Lunar New Year, here's how to say it: "Gong hei fat choy" is the most common greeting in Cantonese, which is spoken in parts of southern China and Hong Kong. It translates to "wishing you great happiness and prosperity." In Mandarin, the same greeting is "gong xi fa cai."
The legend behind Lunar New Year is that every year the “Nián” (“year”) monster came to rampage through villages. Nián was seen as bad luck, and so villagers used firecrackers to scare away the monster. They also hid in their homes and prepared feasts as an offering to ancestors and gods. Red signifies good luck and happiness and is also thought to scare away the nasty Nián, so during Lunar New Year, homes are decorated with red and gold paper poems and lanterns. Nowadays, the 15-day celebration includes fireworks and red dragon costumes (to symbolically chase away the Nián monster), and it kicks off on New Year’s Eve with a family feast dedicated to health, abundance and happiness.
-- Submitted by the Institute for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion and Transformative Practice