While we entered the Gregorian New Year a month ago, China, half a world away, is celebrating the Spring Festival, commonly known as the Lunar New Year, today.

Lunar New Year is a festival that marks the first new moon of the lunisolar calendar (based on the moon and sun) traditionally used in many East Asian countries. The festival signals the beginning of spring, a time to say goodbye to the old and welcome the new.

The Spring Festival is a widespread and grand festival in China, during which a festive atmosphere pervades the country, much like Christmas in the West.

A Chinese dragon’s parade on New Year’s Eve.

From shops and restaurant to streets and public spaces, red and gold accents light up the eye. Spectacular fireworks are let off from Shanghai Tower and houses are covered with red Fú characters (symbolising fortune or good luck) hung upside down and Spring Festival couplets, which express blessings and good wishes. One can see golden statues of the annual Chinese zodiac sign everywhere.

Many Chinese choose to move to big cities like Beijing or Shanghai for better work opportunities, so they rarely see their families. Therefore, it’s a must for most to return home for the Chinese New Year to celebrate the festivity with their families. In fact, at this time of year, train and plane tickets are hard to come by and must be purchased in advance.

"The China Cultural Centre in Malta is set to organise a number of events to promote Chinese culture among the Maltese"

As the Lunar New Year approaches, people wish each other health, wealth and luck, with the most famous phrases being gongxi facai (best wishes, wish you happiness and prosperity) or wanshiruyi (may all your wishes come true).

A few days before New Year’s Eve, families clean the house together, buy new clothes and decorate the house with Spring Festival couplets.

On New Year’s Eve, families enjoy a variety of traditional dishes, like dumplings, spring rolls, fish and nian gao (a sweet rice cake), which they cook together. But this celebration is not only about food as the dishes also carry symbolic meanings and represent good luck and prosperity. 

A Chinese family preparing dumplings, a popular food traditionally served on New Year’s Eve.

Family members also exchange red pockets containing money and watch the annual CCTV New Year’s Eve Gala on TV, a variety show featuring music, dance, comedy and drama performances. It has become a ritual for many Chinese families, including those living overseas, to watch the show on the Chinese New Year’s Eve. 

After a sumptuous dinner, families let off fireworks and firecrackers and the most traditional ones offer sacrifices to ancestors. During the rest of the week-long festival, people visit extended fami­ly and friends, eat together, exchange good wishes and give out red envelopes containing monetary gifts.

On the 15th evening of the first lunar month, families gather for dinner. They write wishes on lanterns and let them fly off or float to remind gods of their wishes.

The Chinese zodiac is composed of a 12-year repeating cycle, with each year represented by a zodiac animal. The ‘Tiger’ is the Chinese symbolic animal of the year 2022. 

A dragon parade in an old town

Since ancient times, the tiger has been known in China as the “king of beasts”  and is considered a symbol of strength and authority. Tigers, being adventurous by nature, dislike conservatism and following the rules. 

People with the Tiger zodiac sign were born in 2010, 1998, 1986, 1974, 1962 and 1950. Although these people are considered emotional, they are very kind to others and have a strong self-confidence. They approach problems carefully and consider them well before acting. 

A family letting off fireworks on New Year’s Eve.

The China Cultural Centre in Malta is set to organise a number of events to promote Chinese culture among the Maltese. Everyone is invited to join.

Those interested in learning new things about China can join a series of lectures that started last year. The next lecture will be held on February 16 and is about the May Fourth Movement, a Chinese anti-imperialist, cultural and political movement which grew out of student protests in Beijing on May 4, 1919. For more information, visit the official Facebook page of the China Cultural Centre in Malta. Spazju Kreattiv is hosting a Chinese New Year Film Festival from Thursday to February 20.

More information about the event is available online. 

A temple fair recreating the Lunar New Year festival is planned for this month at the Chinese Serenity Garden of Santa Luċija. This event is co-hosted by the locality and the China Cultural Centre and will be directed by Adrian J. Mizzi, chairman, executive producer and founder of Malta Fashion Week. More details will be announced on the China Cultural Centre in Malta Facebook page.

Just like this year’s zodiac sign, 2022 is starting off on a brave and strong note, with the Beijing Winter Olympics kicking off on Friday despite COVID-19. We all hope that the new year will bring peace to the world, the end of the pandemic and a more free life. 

Yang Xiaolong, director of the China Cultural Centre in Malta, and all its staff members wish everyone a happy Chinese New Year, good health and prosperity.

Cécile Rudant is media manager of the China Cultural Centre.

A young girl looking at Spring Festival couplets, which express blessings and good wishes.