The Chinese Lunar New Year for 2025 begins on Wednesday, January 29th. The celebrations typically last for about 15 days, concluding with the Lantern Festival. Therefore, the Lunar New Year period for 2025 would run from January 29th to February 12th.
The term "Chinese New Year" is commonly used as the Lunar New Year is one of the most significant traditional holidays in China and an important annual celebration. It marks the beginning of the new year on the traditional Chinese lunisolar calendar. More broadly, the term "Lunar New Year" can be used to describe similar New Year celebrations in other Asian cultures that use lunisolar calendars, such as Korean Seollal, Vietnamese Tết, and Tibetan Losar.
The different animals associated with each Chinese New Year come from the Chinese zodiac, a traditional classification scheme that assigns an animal and its reputed attributes to each year in a repeating 12-year cycle. This system is deeply embedded in Chinese culture and influences many aspects of life, including astrology, personality traits, and compatibility. During the time of celebrations, the zodiac animal for the upcoming year is often a focal point. People may give gifts, such as trinkets or red envelopes, flowers and gifts that feature or represent the zodiac animal.
