Happy Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year, also commonly known as the Lunar New Year or the Spring Festival, is celebrated all around the world. The common New Year greeting in Mandarin Chinese is “Xin Nian Kuai Le” which literally means “Happy New Year”.
Chinese New Year follows the lunar calendar and thus there is no set date for it on our usual calendar. Chinese New Year starts on January 1st (according to the lunar calendar) and the festival lasts until the 15th January (the full moon). In 2019, this festival occurs on the February 5th. Families and friends celebrating Chinese New Year will gather and have the most important meal of the year – the reunion dinner on New Year’s Eve (solar date February 4th). After dinner, the children or unmarried individuals will be given red envelopes (which usually contain money) as a symbol of receiving luck and good fortune from their parents or married couples. The families will then stay up for the night and wait for the New Year.
While Western culture has 12 horoscopes, one for each month, there are 12 Chinese zodiac animals that last for the entire year. 2019 is the year of the pig and it is believed that people born in this zodiac sign show positive traits such as diligence, compassion, generosity and gentleness.
During this festive season, Yakult Australia wishes you a Happy Chinese New Year of the Pig, 新年快乐!