Chinese New Year 2022

When is Chinese New Year 2022 celebrated?

Chinese New Year 2022 is set to take place on Tuesday 1 February.

While we celebrated the solar new year almost a month ago, the lunar year has not yet finished. In fact, it’s been running since 12 February 2021 and only comes to a close on Monday 31 January 2022.

While solar calendars are in popular and legal usage across much of the world, many people in China and South East Asia follow the more traditional lunar calendar.

Whereas solar calendars are based on the earth’s passage around the sun, lunar ones base their timings off the different phases of the moon.

It means months tend to be either 29 or 30 days in length, and years are between 11 to 12 days shorter than the solar calendar.

While this might seem like a very foreign concept, most cultures around the world have used lunar calendars at some point in their history.

How long is Chinese New Year?

16 Days

Chinese New Year falls on Tuesday 1 February this year. In China, celebrations last for 16 days, starting on the eve of the New Year and finishing on the 15th day, on which the Yuan Xiao Festival takes place. This is when people release thousands of paper lanterns into the sky.

What is the 2022 Chinese zodiac?

Year of the Tiger

Every new year introduces another animal from the Chinese zodiac and its attributes.

This system is believed to have been installed in a period during which animal worship was widely practiced in China.

The zodiac system has been going for an estimated 2,000 years and remains central to Chinese culture.

Many people in China use it to determine their fortune for the year and even who they should marry.