Chinese Lunar New Year is the perfect opportunity to learn about your employees’ and clients’ cultural traditions and backgrounds. Recognizing and celebrating their racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds is an effective strategy in building long-lasting relationships with them.
As experts in planning DEI corporate and community events and members of the Asian American community in Los Angeles, California, we can help you successfully plan your next Lunar Year Celebration.
“Taking the time to learn more about your colleagues and their cultural backgrounds is a great way to build a sense of inclusion. –Bonusly”
Lunar New Year Corporate and Community Events: Traditional Celebration vs Virtual Celebration
Lunar Year is traditionally celebrated with banquet-hall gatherings, gift-giving, fireworks shows, dragon dances and parades that attract huge crowds to Chinese communities. But since the pandemic started, companies and organizations have been finding creative ways to keep the tradition alive. Since then, Lunar Year virtual events have been a great resource for companies looking to celebrate diversity and inclusion as part of their culture.
🥟Dumplings 🍜 Noodles and 🍊 Tangerines (one of IMG’s favorites) are just some of the elements that make this celebration tasty and flavorful. Activities also include giving out red envelopes, calligraphy classes (virtual), light lanterns and firecrackers.
Some other fun Lunar New Year tips are:
- Wear red= good luck
- Make sure your house is clean (clean before Lunar New Year day)
Here are Some Fun Facts about the Lunar Year
A lunar calendar is a calendar based on the monthly cycles of the Moon’s phases, in contrast to solar calendars, whose annual cycles are based only directly on the solar year.
Chinese New Year 2022 – Date: Tuesday, February 1st, 2022.
2022 is a Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese zodiac, starting from February 1st, 2022, and lasting until January 21st, 2023.
Animal Sign: Tiger
The most notable dates of the Chinese Lunar New Year 2022 are these three days:
New Year’s Eve on January 31st, 2022
New Year’s Day on February 1st, 2022
The Lantern Festival on February 15th, 2022
Official Explanation:
Lunar New Year, Chinese Chunjie, Vietnamese Tet, Korean Solnal, Tibetan Losar, also called Spring Festival, the festival typically celebrated in China and other Asian countries that begins with the first new moon of the lunar calendar and ends on the first full moon of the lunar calendar, 15 days later. The lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon, so the dates of the holiday vary slightly from year to year, beginning sometime between January 21 and February 20 according to Western calendars.
Approximately 10 days before the beginning of the new lunar year, houses are thoroughly cleaned to remove any bad luck that might be lingering inside, a custom called “sweeping of the grounds.” Traditionally, New Year’s eve and New Year’s day are reserved for family celebrations, including religious ceremonies honoring ancestors. Also on New Year’s day, family members receive red envelopes (lai see) containing small amounts of money. Dances and fireworks are prevalent throughout the holidays, culminating in the Lantern Festival, which is celebrated on the last day of the New Year’s celebrations. On this night colourful lanterns light up the houses, and traditional foods such as yuanxiao (sticky rice balls that symbolize family unity), fagao (prosperity cake), and yusheng (raw fish and vegetable salad) are served. The Lunar New Year is celebrated on Tuesday, February 1, 2022.
Source: https://www.britannica.com/topic/Lunar-New-Year
The Lantern Festival
Lantern Festival, also called Yuan Xiao Festival, a holiday celebrated in China and other Asian countries that honor deceased ancestors on the 15th day of the first month (Yuan) of the lunar calendar.
The Lantern Festival aims to promote reconciliation, peace, and forgiveness. The holiday marks the first full moon of the new lunar year and the end of the Chinese New Year (see Lunar New Year).
During the festival, houses are festooned with colourful lanterns, often with riddles written on them; if the riddle is answered correctly, the solver earns a small gift.
Festival celebrations also include lion and dragon dances, parades, and fireworks. Small glutinous rice balls filled with fruits and nuts, called yuanxiao or tangyuan, are eaten during the festival. The round shape of the balls symbolizes wholeness and unity within the family.
